Donald Payne

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the late Vincent Pantozzi of Jersey City, New Jersey, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, which was Sunday. Just 2 months after the United States entered World War I, and only 5 years after Mr. Pantozzi immigrated to the United States, he enlisted in the Army. Sergeant Pantozzi served in many pivotal battles in France. He was shot in the knee on June 15, 1918, and then gassed 8 days later. Sergeant Pantozzi spent 3 weeks in a field hospital, recovered, and returned to his post. He was awarded the Purple Heart and many other commendations for his service. In 1919, Sergeant Pantozzi was honorably discharged from the United States Army. The next day, he became a U.S. citizen. Mr. Pantozzi passed away on October 7, 1976, at the age of 82. I ask my colleagues to join me in honor of Sergeant Vincent Pantozzi of Jersey City, New Jersey, an exceptionally dedicated man whose service to our country deserves this recognition.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honor of a dedicated public servant, my sister Wanda Payne, who recently retired from the Newark Public School System after thirty-two years of service. Wanda's journey as a teacher began at the age of twelve, when she volunteered at Newark's Chen School. The following year she obtained a summer position at the school, and she worked there every year until her college graduation. Wanda attended Kean University, where she earned a degree in Early Childhood Education. She taught twenty-nine years at Camden Street School. Her first twenty-five years at Camden Street School were as a kindergarten teacher, then she taught pre-kindergarten for four years. Wanda transferred to Hawthorne Avenue School, where she taught kindergarten and first grade before retiring. Wanda has made a difference in the lives of our most precious resources, our children. Wanda is dedicated to community service. She spent twenty-five years at the Fresh Air Fund, a program that sends hundreds of children to summer camp and assists seniors, single parents and the unemployed. She was a youth advisor for the North Jersey Youth Club, as well as the Youth in Government and Model U.N. programs for high school students. She is a consummate professional who has truly enjoyed her teaching career and her volunteer work. I am grateful that Wanda chose to follow in my father's footsteps and become an educator. She has served the children of the Newark Public School System with her heart, and in the process has created an outstanding legacy. Mr. Speaker, Ms. Wanda Payne deserves to be recognized for a job well done during her many years of dedicated service to the children of Newark. I am proud to have such a dedicated sister and wish her much success in her future endeavors. Wanda is the mother of one son and the grandmother of four.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Ms. Laura Wooten for her dedication and service to America's voters. Ms. Wooten has been a poll worker in New Jersey for 79 consecutive years. She has dedicated her life to helping people vote, regardless of their party or position. Ms. Wooten is the longest serving poll worker in New Jersey. She is likely the longest serving poll worker in our Nation. In fact, she has helped administer elections through the administration of 14 Presidents, from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Donald J. Trump. Ms. Wooten is 97 years old, and she will once again perform her duties as a poll worker in New Jersey in November with her characteristic pride, grace, and smile. Ms. Wooten is a role model for all people and a reminder that every vote counts. And, as she likes to say, voting is important. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Ms. Laura Wooten by reminding all Americans, regardless of party or position, to just vote.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, this morning I met with the Prostate Health Education Network and leaders from across the country who are on the frontlines of the fight against prostate cancer. It is critical for African American men and their families that leaders like us raise awareness and funding to end the racial disparity in prostate cancer research. African American men are more likely to get prostate cancer, are diagnosed at more advanced stages, and are twice as likely to die as our Caucasian counterparts. Fighting cancer requires sustained efforts at all levels to raise awareness to ensure individuals and their families have quality and affordable access to screening and treatment. It is critical that Congress continues putting resources toward ending racial disparity in prostate cancer and healthcare more generally.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, Hurricane Florence is possibly the most devastating hurricane to hit the Carolinas in a lifetime. Let us prepare for the worst and hope for the best. As global climate change makes extreme weather events more likely and more dangerous, the Trump administration is burying its head in the sand. A month ago, FEMA released an internal review of its response to Hurricane Maria, admitting that, among other things, when Hurricane Maria struck, FEMA's warehouses in Puerto Rico were basically empty. Then yesterday we find out that the Trump administration diverted $10 million from FEMA to ICE in order to boost its detention program and lock up children in cages away from their parents and babies from their mothers. This is outrageous. It is just another example of how callous the Trump administration is and how misplaced its priorities are. I hope that FEMA and the Trump administration do better in the Carolinas because Hurricane Florence is going to be devastating.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Massachusetts for giving me the opportunity to speak on what we all consider a national tragedy, but are trying to do something here that will help us remember those lost on that fateful day. Yesterday morning, like many of my colleagues, I was back in my district to reflect on the tragic events of September 11, 2001. My district borders on New York City. Across the river, I can see the World Trade Center building from my district office. Every single day thousands of my constituents travel to and from New York City for work. The 9/11 attacks were deeply personal for New Jersey's 10th Congressional District, as we lost 57 residents from my home county in which I live in Newark, New Jersey, the County of Essex, and we have erected a beautiful memorial in Essex County at Eagle Rock Reservation, which is a mountaintop where you can see over into New York City, where many people ventured to see what had happened on that fateful day. And so it has become a beautiful memorial there at Eagle Rock Reservation, and it is a pristine, beautiful symbol of never forgetting. The names of all of the people who perished that day are printed on a marble wall that overlooks New York. H.R. 6287 will ensure that ``never again'' is more than a slogan. It will help protect memorials in my district and across the country for future generations. The men and women who lost their lives on 9/11 and in the aftermath of the attacks are American heroes. I am proud to support this bill which will make sure that the memorials to those heroes are preserved for future generations.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, in closing, the ultimate success of the CWMD Office rests with the dedicated men and women who have served at the Department. The threat landscape is diverse, with conventional and nonconventional threats emerging daily. It is critical that we stay vigilant and do all we can to ensure that the Federal Department we established in response to the 9/11 attacks is positioned to meet the demands of the current threat landscape. By passing H.R. 6198, we can do our part to set the CWMD Office on a positive course. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6198, the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 2018. This bill authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to reorganize itself in order to prevent, prepare for, and respond to a biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear attack. Yesterday, we came together to mark the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As a proud New Jerseyan, I carry those images of that day in the work that I do in Congress and on the Committee on Homeland Security. Today, in a small way, we are here to honor the loss and sacrifice Americans felt that day by positioning DHS to better address emerging terrorist threats. Plans to reorganize DHS' biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear programs first surfaced in the Obama administration. In December 2017, then-Acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke exercised her statutory authority to reorganize elements within the Department to establish a new Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office. The CWMD Office merged the functions of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, DNDO; the majority of the Office of Health Affairs, OHA; parts of Science and Technology Directorate, S&T; parts of DHS Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans, SPP; and DHS Office of Operations Coordination, OPS. Though many of us in Congress were disappointed that DHS acted without explicit congressional authorization to make this major operational change, the reorganization appears to have been effective in harmonizing efforts within DHS. I am pleased that the legislation before you today contains language authored to ensure that CWMD Office leverages research and development resources and capabilities by coordinating with the Science and Technology Directorate. H.R. 6198 also contains language, already passed by the House, to authorize the Securing the Cities program. Securing the Cities is an important tool to protecting New York City and other major metropolitan areas. Mr. Speaker, I would encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to an epidemic, a pandemic of unnecessary amputations in our country. In the 21st century, non-traumatic amputations should be a thing of the past, but they are not. Poor blood circulation because of peripheral artery disease often leads to amputations, and minorities are suffering disproportionately. In fact, African Americans with PAD are more likely to be amputated and less likely to have their lower limbs revascularized. Across this country, people are having their limbs and digits amputated simply because they are poor, simply because they don't have access to healthcare until it is too late. Yesterday, Mr. Paulsen and I brought together experts from across the country to discuss ways Congress can prevent this unnecessary amputation issue. This is serious. The problem is no one checks or does any screening prior to amputations. If a woman went in to her doctor and found a lump in her breast today and the doctor said well, we are just going to have to do a mastectomy, we would go crazy. So we need testing in this area as well because these limbs can be saved and Americans can go on and live the quality of life that they deserve in this Nation. This is a serious health issue that affects people in all of our districts, and I look forward to continuing to work with both Democrats and Republicans to reduce unnecessary amputations.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, recently FEMA released a report into its own response after Hurricane Maria swept Puerto Rico last year. To sum up the report, FEMA screwed up. FEMA underestimated how much food people would need. FEMA miscalculated how much fresh water people would need. FEMA didn't foresee how difficult it would be to get supplies to the island. And when Hurricane Maria struck, FEMA's warehouse in Puerto Rico was basically empty. I was most shocked by FEMA's admission that its plans for a crisis in Puerto Rico were based on a focused disaster like a tsunami, not a major hurricane devastating the whole island. Just last week, the island's death toll was adjusted to reflect the reality that thousands of people died because of Hurricane Maria. Mr. Speaker, these were American citizens. The Federal Government must do better. Lives are at stake.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, since 1987, the number of pilots in the United States has decreased by 30 percent. Demand for pilots is up and the supply of trained pilots is down. Throughout the aviation industry, there is a desperate need for trained aviation employees. One way we can help end the shortage is to create paths for minority training. African Americans are significantly underrepresented in the aviation industry. They represent only 9 percent of airline mechanics and service technicians, 2 percent of aircraft pilots and flight engineers, and 12 percent of air traffic controllers. Creating opportunities to diversify the aviation field will help the critical shortage of pilots and aviation employees. Soon, I will be introducing a bill to establish an African American advisory board within the FAA. The advisory board will engage African American students through aviation training, mentorship, education, and outreach programs. I urge my colleagues to join me in my effort to decrease our Nation's pilot shortage by tapping into an underutilized population and creating a more inclusive aviation industry

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, it is still going on. The Trump administration is still holding thousands of little children in jails across this country in cages, cyclone fencing, cages. These are babies and toddlers, preschoolers and adolescents. Their only crime is their desire to breathe free. And just when you think the pit of the Trump administration's soul could get no darker, heartbreaking reports emerge from inside these so- called detention facilities. These children are prohibited from touching one another. No hugs, not even from their siblings. They can't run around. They have to wake up at unreasonably early hours, with their jailers banging and making noise as if it is Alcatraz, for everyone to get out of bed. Some of these children only get 1 hour to play outside a day. They are being held in strip malls and abandoned motels. Some are banned from sending mail to their siblings. Others have scrubbed toilets or handled bags of unsanitary used toilet paper. Mr. Speaker, these so-called detention facilities are nothing more than jails for children, baby jails. Let's end this madness.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, now that the Manchurian President has come back from meeting with his holders in Helsinki, we need to look at what is going on here. We were scolded today in another country by the President of the United States telling us how: Well, Russia has made mistakes. Well, we have made mistakes, too. When has a President ever done that? And all my colleagues do is sit over there and don't say a word. Let this have been some other President, it would be holy water in here. He attacks women all the time--Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, Elizabeth Warren, Megyn Kelly, Hillary Clinton, you name it. But then stands there next to the person that had everything to do with our elections being rigged or held up, and he stands there and says: Well, he said he didn't do it. What is going on here? Is there any backbone? The President of the United States doesn't have a backbone. What did I see today? It used to be being called a communist was the worst thing you could call someone. Now they are our friends? Wake up.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, the vast majority of people in our country oppose the Trump administration's cruel policy of jailing immigrant children. This administration is rotten to the core. Just yesterday, news broke that the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement is preparing for possibly another surge of families to separate. They are planning for the possible detention of thousands more children, even though the office doesn't have enough money to take care of these children. So what is the administration's plan for covering the cost of jailing children? According to internal documents obtained by reporters, HHS plans to pay for the child separation by robbing funds from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. In fact, HHS is already moving money out of the Ryan White program. Mr. Speaker, this administration is wicked. Stealing from the underinsured and the uninsured people living with HIV in order to put children in jail is outrageous. Congress needs to step up and protect the Ryan White program and end child detention.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, sometimes it seems that the United States moves from one crisis to the next. We have to keep our eye on the ball. As Members of Congress, we have a duty to protect everyone in this country from unnecessary suffering. We cannot forget that the Trump administration is still holding children in cages, ``Cages `R' Us.'' Congress should step up and end this terrible policy. We cannot forget that thousands--maybe even millions--of people in this country are served by water systems that violate the Safe Water Drinking Act. Congress should invest in rebuilding community water infrastructures. We cannot forget that this year there is nearly one school shooting a week. Congress needs to dump the NRA and pass reasonable gun laws. Mr. Speaker, ignoring the problem doesn't make it go away, and each moment we fail to act puts human lives at risk.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, the Supreme Court is supposed to be above politics. Justice is supposed to be blind. But rather than nominate a fair and balanced jurist to the Supreme Court, the man in the White House has nominated a right-wing operative to replace Justice Kennedy. Not only that, the nominee is someone who apparently believes that the President is above the law. Make no mistake. Judge Brett Kavanaugh is no Justice Kennedy. Whether we are talking about the disgraceful Starr Commission or Bush vs. Gore or the scandalous George W. Bush administration, Judge Kavanaugh has been there. His hands are covered in right-wing muck. This nomination threatens the rights and liberties the people of this Nation have died for. Confirming Judge Kavanaugh would destroy Roe vs. Wade. It would put ObamaCare at risk, and it would threaten the rights of same-sex couples to marry. The American people demand justice, and justice is fair, not a justice who is full of hot air.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, due to personal illness, I was not present for the following Roll Call votes. Had I been present, I would have voted the following: ``nay'' on rollcall No. 279, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 280, ``yea'' on rollcall No. 281, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 282, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 283, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 284, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 285, and ``nay'' on rollcall No. 286.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, there are babies being ripped away from their parents at the southern border in the name of the American people. Make no mistake, this is part of an evil plot by the Trump administration, and it has to stop. What I want to know is how the Trump administration is keeping track of these children. My triplets didn't carry identification around when they were little babies. That was my wife's and my job, to be able to identify them and speak for them. We were with our kids, and we could identify them. If these babies don't have identification, how will they be reunited with their parents? How will they be reunited with their families? The American people demand answers, Mr. Speaker. The American people demand an end to this evil, to this new GOP nonprofit, ``Cage the Children.''

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Garamendi, once again, for stepping out and giving Members such as myself the opportunity to express our outrage at what is going on in this great Nation of ours. The gentleman has given me several opportunities to speak on issues pertaining to this country that are at the core of decisions and issues that we need to address, and his passion tonight is warranted. Let me say, never in my life did I think that I would be on the floor of the United States House of Representatives calling for the President of the United States to stop tearing children away from their parents. Yet here I am. Perhaps it is fitting that today is Juneteenth, a holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth is also a stark reminder that our country has a dark history of ripping children away from their parents. African Americans know all too well that laws and policies can be twisted to evil ends. We know all too well the pain of having our children torn away from us and our families separated. It was a common event during slavery. We know all too well that state-sponsored psychological terror can have lasting effects on generations. What is going on at our south border is evil. It is a deplorable policy by deplorable people, and it has to stop. The president of the American Academy of Pediatrics has explained that the practice of ripping children away from their parents at the border is child abuse. Let me emphasize, one of the country's leading pediatricians has said that the United States is engaging in horrible actions that ``disrupt the synapses and the neurological connections that are part of the developing brain'' of these immigrant babies. Who are we as a nation? Now, I have heard pundits defending evil by saying that the Trump administration is just following the law, just applying the law. I have heard other pundits wrongly say migrant parents are breaking the law and deserve to have their children taken away. Attorney General Jeff Beauregard Sessions even trotted out the Bible to defend the family-separation policy, quoting a passage that says ``to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained the government for his purposes.'' That is the same scripture that they used for slave-owners against their slaves, to defend their practice of holding human beings in bondage. So let me answer Attorney General Beauregard Sessions and the Trump administration's goons: Legal does not mean moral. Slavery was legal, but it was immoral. Jim Crow was legal, but it was immoral. Forced sterilization was legal, but it was immoral. Apartheid was legal, but it was immoral. Tearing children away from their parents at the border may be legal, but it is immoral. The President could end this evil with one tweet. Congress can end it with a vote. Let us hope that reasonable people steer the ship of the state onto the right course before the seas of despair consume us all. Mr. Speaker, I say to the gentleman from California, let me just say that, as I thought about this, the gentleman has been in this body much longer than I and has seen people come and go, great people on both sides of the aisle that the gentleman has worked with. Well, let me just say, what has happened? What has happened to that side of the aisle? What is going on with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle that they do not speak up? They all have children. I would die for my triplets getting here if I was in a position where I thought that my life and my children's lives were in danger where I was. You had better believe I would come up here and try to get into this Nation. We would all do that for our children. Yet these people are criminals? It baffles the mind. I know that time is fleeting, but I have seen the GOP come up with a new nonprofit through this whole endeavor. They have created a new nonprofit, sir. It is called ``Cage the Children.''

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, today is Juneteenth, a day to celebrate the end of slavery in the United States. The destructive history of slavery in this country flows through the fabric of our social conscience, but much more so during the month of June. On June 19, 1865--hence, the name Juneteenth--the Union Army took control over Texas. It is on that date, 2\1/2\ years after the fact, when slaves in Texas learned about the Emancipation Proclamation. That is how dominant the institution of slavery was. Slave owners were able to keep freedom a secret for 2\1/2\ years. The end of slavery didn't mean freedom came overnight. It took a cultural transformation and the course of a hundred years before African Americans could even vote. And the effects of slavery continue still today. On Juneteenth, we celebrate the end of slavery and aspire to be fully free.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the wonderful accomplishments of two young women from my district. April Vassell and Nevaeh Parker were each selected to attend the United Nations Foundation's 2018 Women in Science, or WiSci, Girls STEAM Camp in Namibia. The camp will bring together 100 high school girls from the African Continent and the United States for a 2-week intensive learning program. This amazing camp is co-hosted by the U.S. Department of State and private partners. It brings girls together to help close the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. April and Nevaeh will have the opportunity to enhance their STEAM skills, grow as young leaders, and develop relationships with their sisters from Africa. These two young women and the other campers have a lot to be proud of. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing their achievements, their potential, and success.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, over the past 100 years, the life expectancy of men has declined in comparison with that of women. Women now live, on average, 5 years longer than men. There is a silent crisis of men's health in America. To reverse the decline, we must be silent no more. Too often, men are foregoing routine health screenings, and they are dying because of it. Colon cancer, heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, all of these are treatable or even preventable, if you get screened. Screenings aren't scary. They don't hurt. This morning, my staff and I were screened by healthcare professionals on Capitol Hill with the Men's Health Network. Knowledge is power, ladies and gentlemen, for my staff, for myself, and for our families. Just a few minutes ago, my fellow chairman of the Men's Health Caucus, Congressman Mullin of Oklahoma, joined me to introduce a resolution recognizing June 11 to 17 as National Men's Health Week. I encourage each of you to join us on this resolution and help end the silent crisis of men's health in America.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, when will my Republican colleagues divorce themselves from the NRA? Despite all the uncertainties in this world, there seems to be one truth, that there will be no Republican action on gun violence. That is what the NRA stands for: No Republican Action. That is what the NRA pays for when it funnels tens of millions of dollars into our Federal elections. Two years ago, 49 people were shot to death by a crazed gunman in a nightclub in Orlando, Florida. On this, the anniversary of that massacre, I ask my colleagues to join with me in honoring those who were lost by uplifting the spirits of their families. Mr. Speaker, to truly honor the lives lost at the Pulse nightclub, in Las Vegas, at Parkland in Florida, and in communities every day across this Nation, we have to change our laws, and we have to do it now.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize June as Gun Violence Awareness Month and to ask my colleagues across the aisle: How many lives must we sacrifice at the altar of the gun lobby before Congress says enough is enough? I saw in the news today that David Hogg, one of the Parkland survivors, wore a price tag instead of his tassel to his graduation. It is said that he is worth about $1.05. That is how much David calculated the NRA spent per student to help elect an NRA-aligned United States Senator in Florida. Mr. Speaker, our children deserve more. Mr. Speaker, our children are worth more. The NRA spends millions of dollars in our elections, but all the American people get is ``no Republican action''--NRA--because that is what the gun lobby pays for. Well, Mr. Speaker, our young people know what is up, and they are registering to vote because they know they are worth more than just a dollar and a nickel.

Mr. PAYNE

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in honoring the life and legacy of Rutgers Law School Professor Alfred Slocum. Professor Slocum was a titan in the legal and civil rights communities. While still a student at Rutgers Law, he spoke out on behalf of minorities and people of color. He worked with professors and other students to help create the Rutgers Law Minority Student Program, which is the most extensive and renowned program to train minority lawyers in this country. During his career, Professor Slocum served many roles in the legal profession and in the public service sector. He was an executive director of the Council on Legal Education Opportunity. He served as public advocate of the State of New Jersey in 1986 and, later that year, was appointed public defender. For 5 years, Professor Slocum championed the causes of the voiceless and the indigent. Then in 1990, he returned to law school, where he taught until retiring from the faculty in 2001. I speak for myself, for the city of Newark, and for the State of New Jersey when I say that Professor Slocum's life was well lived. I ask my colleagues to join me in honor of this great man's legacy. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, Professor Alfred Slocum was a champion for the voiceless and for people in need. Mr. Speaker, the people who are in the greatest need in this country rely on our social safety net for food, for shelter, for healthcare, and for many necessities that help them scrape by. We cannot leave them to despair. These people are not just a statistic. They are not just an idea. They are human beings. They are Americans. They are people who just need a helping hand. I have said this before, but let me say it again. I have never met a person who wakes up in the morning and says, ``I want to be poor today.'' That is just not a reality. Let me add this. I have never met a person who wakes up at 5 a.m. to go to her first job, comes home at 1 p.m. to take a nap, and heads out to her second job at 4 p.m., yet still lives paycheck to paycheck, still relies on SNAP and Medicaid to make ends meet, but thinks to herself, ``I like to struggle.'' She does not exist, because that is just not how the world works. Programs like SNAP, Medicaid, housing assistance, our entire social safety net is a supplement that helps people struggle just a little bit less. Yet my colleagues across the aisle and their friends in the White House keep pushing the false narrative that people who rely on government assistance to make ends meet are just freeloaders who take advantage of the government handouts and buy drugs. The majority party and the 45th President keep pushing their callous, immoral narrative in order to tear apart the social safety net. Mr. Speaker, the United States Government should be making it easier for Americans to maintain a decent standard of living. We have to protect our most vulnerable and those who are in need. Let us end this administration's war on the working poor and help make lives better for our constituents. The American people deserve A Better Deal.