Bobby Scott

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman from Connecticut an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Stevens), a distinguished member of the Committee on Education and Labor.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cisneros).

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Ms. Kendra S. Horn).

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

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentlewoman from Ohio.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time remains on both sides.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney), a distinguished member of the Committee on Education and Labor.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bonamici), the chair of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Resources.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Underwood), a distinguished member of the Committee on Education and Labor.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Hayes), a distinguished member of the Committee on Education and Labor.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and friend, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, for her work in support of children, families, and childcare providers. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Child Care Is Essential Act. Access to affordable childcare is critical to working families in helping our economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Without childcare, parents cannot return to work, businesses cannot reopen, and young children cannot access invaluable early learning opportunities. At this moment, the childcare industry stands at the brink of collapse. Childcare providers already struggled financially before the pandemic. Now, dramatically low revenue and increased operating costs are pushing providers towards permanent closures. In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic has already cost the jobs of roughly one in four childcare workers, and researchers estimate that we could permanently lose up to 4.5 million childcare slots. The pandemic has already impacted the lives of parents, 13 percent of whom have had to lower their work hours or quit their jobs entirely due to difficulties in childcare. Our constituents are calling us to take action. A recent survey found that more than 8 in 10 voters across the political spectrums favor a substantial Federal investment in childcare. We must save the childcare system, which is critical for working families, our economy, and the healthy development of our Nation's children. We can do that by voting in favor of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I urge the House to pass this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the amendment to H.R. 7608 proposed by my colleagues, Mr. Perry and Mr. Joyce from Pennsylvania. The amendment would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from fulfilling the role outlined in an agreement that the Agency entered into--along with six states and the District of Columbia--to restore the Chesapeake Bay. Like the rest of the Bay's 64,000 square mile watershed, in my district in Hampton Roads, Virginia, healthy tributaries and a healthy Chesapeake are vital to the environment, the economy, recreation, wildlife and our way of life. Despite the vital importance of the Bay, how to best address its deterioration was a concern for almost half a century. Prior to the states' agreement with the EPA, their individual efforts were largely unsuccessful. In 2010, however, the Environmental Protection Agency established Total Maximum Daily Load, limits on nutrient and sediment pollution to improve the Bay's water quality. Though the work continues, this new level of coordination and federal-state cooperation has been very successful. Beyond the Chesapeake region, this level of coordination provides a unique precedent for other restoration efforts across the country. Unfortunately, this amendment would prohibit the EPA from fulfilling their crucial role, one that the watershed states have agreed is necessary. History makes it clear that the collaboration and partnership of state, local, Federal, and non-governmental partners will be required to restore this national treasure. I urge my colleagues to vote no on this amendment. I also rise in support of the amendment that my colleague Ms. Speier has introduced. I share the gentlewoman's concern about forcing non- federal entities that have faithfully worked with the EPA to secure funding for the very successful Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) Program to reapply. In my district in Hampton Roads, the SWIFT project--or the Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow--is currently very close to closing a loan to move forward with their work to replenish the Potomac aquifer. Changing the application process for non-federal applicants that are already so far along in the process is wasteful and would unnecessarily delay projects that support access to safe and affordable water for our communities. In the case of the innovative SWIFT project, the WIFIA program supports my community's access to clean drinking water not only now, but also in the future as it recharges an aquifer on which most of eastern Virginia depends for their drinking water. In addition to limiting the amount of treated water that would otherwise be discharged into the James, Elizabeth, or York Rivers, this project would also yield enormous benefits to the entire region by slowing land subsidence, which is compounded in the Hampton Roads region by sea- level rise. Importantly for agricultural producers, the project also promises to slow the intrusion of saltwater into groundwater in the region. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the WIFIA program and the many benefits that it provides.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today for a solemn occasion. Tonight we honor our friend, brother, colleague, the conscience of the Congress, a true American icon: Congressman John Lewis. Words cannot convey the loss to this body as well as to the Nation, but very few can claim to have altered the course of American history the way that John did. He was a guiding light to all of us and was a leader trying to make America a more perfect Union. His steadfast moral leadership will be deeply missed, particularly at this complex time in our history. Those of us here today are standing on his shoulders. His historic life and legacy will undoubtedly live on, but we must be sure to continue his life's work, particularly when it comes to voting rights and restoring the Voting Rights Act. We must make some ``good trouble'' to honor his enormous legacy.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise today to honor and remember the life of Arika Samantha Trim, my former committee press secretary. Arika tragically passed away at the age of 29 on June 23, 2020, just a week after giving birth to her son Djai. I first had the honor of meeting Arika shortly after I became ranking member on what was then the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Arika joined my committee staff in April 2015 as our press secretary and was later promoted to deputy communications director. Arika brought significant experience to the Committee's press team. A native of Tobago, Arika was a 2008 graduate of Oxon Hill High School in Maryland. After graduating Lee University in Tennessee in 2012 with a degree in public relations, she interned with the Office of First Lady Michelle Obama. She then went on to join the communications staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a press assistant. She was critical to communicating and amplifying the important work of Democrats on the Education and the Workforce Committee to the media and the American people. Arika played a key role in many of our key legislative successes during my first three years as the top Democrat on the Committee, including defending the Affordable Care Act, promoting the importance of school meals and child nutrition, and original introduction of the Raise the Wage Act. I will forever be grateful for her work and dedication to America's students, workers, and families. Arika left the committee in early 2018 to join the communications staff of the American Hospital Association. I know Arika played an outsized role there communicating the needs of hospitals, most recently the impact on our hospitals of the COVID-19 pandemic. Losing someone at such a young age with so much more to give to the world is tragic, and I cannot fathom the loss that Arika's mother Donna, family, and many friends are going through at this time. The untimely death of Arika challenges us as policy makers to reckon with the disturbing reality that plagues far too many women, especially Black women in this country. That is, regardless of income or educational achievement, Black mothers are three to four times more likely to die of pregnancy related illnesses than White mothers. The COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened the systemic health and social racial inequities in our nation. The Black maternal health crisis is only getting worse and has gone unaddressed for far too long. Congress must take bold action and immediately pass comprehensive legislation to address this issue, including the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act and the Mothers and Offspring Mortality and Morbidity Awareness Act or MOMMA's Act. These bills would make critical investments to support Black mothers, including 12-month postpartum Medicaid coverage, investing in rural maternal health, promoting a more diverse perinatal workforce, and addressing implicit bias in our health care system. Madam Speaker, I hope that we can honor the life and legacy of Black mothers like Arika and finally end the Black maternal health crisis. I hope that Arika's family knows that her legacy of public service will continue to endure and motivate our important work. Madam Speaker, I would like to include in the Record a statement from the American Hospital Association in honor of Arika Trim. Statement From the American Hospital Association on the Passing of Arika Trim (By Rick Pollack, AHA President and CEO, June 30, 2020) Starting in January 2018 until her passing, Arika Trim served as Associate Director of Media Relations at the American Hospital Association. We convey to the nation the association's expression of grief. As a communications professional at the AHA, Arika was passionate about her work to ensure that all patients have access to affordable health care. Her warm manner a gentle smile let everyone who had the privilege of working with her know that in Arika, they had found a friend. She has left us far too soon. We grieve for her family and her beautiful new son, and that her time with us as our friend and colleague has ended. Please know that Arika will always live on in the hearts and memories of her friends at the AHA, and that our thoughts and prayers are with her family and all those who were fortunate to have known her.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, and I focus on the fact that this infrastructure package includes our Nation's schools. For decades, underserved students and educators have spent nearly every day in school facilities with outdated air filtration, air- conditioning, and roofing systems that endanger their health. A GAO report just this year confirmed that more than half the school districts need to repair unsafe and outdated systems in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning in most of their school buildings. These issues are not about comfort. They are about equal access to education. Mr. Speaker, we all want to reopen our schools as soon as possible, but we cannot take this step when the Centers for Disease Control guidance requires functioning ventilation systems to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The Reopen and Rebuild America's Schools Act provisions and infrastructure package offer the solutions our schools need. This legislation will invest construction funds targeted at high-poverty school facilities that put the health of our students and staff most at risk. Of course, the schools will also benefit from the improvements in broadband that are also found in the bill. The school provisions in this bill will create more than 2 million good-paying jobs over the next 5 years at a time when we face historic unemployment rates. The Moving Forward Act is critical to our Nation's economic recovery, and it is critical for our efforts to achieve equity in education. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to pass this bill so that all students will have access to safe and high-quality schools during the pandemic and for years to come. Finally, Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from the Rebuild America's Schools coalition to Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy in support of both the legislation and the Reopen and Rebuild America's Schools Act. Rebuild America's Schools, Washington, DC, June 29, 2020. Re H.R. Moving Forward Act: Reopen and Rebuild America's Schools Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Hon. Kevin McCarthy, Minority Leader, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Madame Speaker and Minority Leader McCarthy: Rebuild America's Schools appreciates and supports your efforts to address the impact of COVID-19 on our nation. As Congress addresses economic recovery, Rebuild America's Schools supports H.R. 2 The Moving Forward Act to invest in our nation's infrastructure including grants and bonds to modernize, renovate and repair local school facilities. The Government Accounting Office (GAO) June 2020 report estimates more than half of America's public school districts need significant repairs to their school facilities. Fifty four percent of school districts across the country must replace or update major systems in more than half their buildings. Grants and infrastructure bonds will assist communities respond to necessary school facility modifications, renovations, and repairs to re-open safely for students, teachers, and staff in the changing COVID-19 environment. Moving Forward Act: Reopen and Rebuild America's Schools Act infrastructure grants and bonds will generate economic activity in every state creating over 100,000 construction services jobs accomplishing two objectives: Local communities will use recovery financing to build, renovate and repair schools providing safer, healthier, more modem and more technologically, energy efficient school facilities advancing student achievement. School construction projects in local communities will generate thousands of construction and building trades jobs including architects engineers, roofing contractors, and suppliers who design, build and maintain our nation's schools. As COVID-19 profoundly impacts national and state economies, federal investment in school infrastructure and safety will have both long- and short-term benefits to the nation's economic recovery and stability advancing student achievement. We look forward to working with you as the House of Representatives considers The Moving Forward Act to invest in the infrastructure of local communities helping modernize schools in every state to support student safety, achievement and success. Thank you. Sincerely, Bob Canavan, Chair.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of several en bloc amendments to H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act. This bill delivers transportation and infrastructure solutions to the American people, improves the safety of commuters and communities, and increases community resilience to the climate crisis, while also creating jobs for the American people. I was pleased that the Rules Committee ruled in order a number of my amendments to further these goals, improving water quality in the Chesapeake Bay, supporting National Labs, and ensuring that modeling and simulation technology is used to ensure federal dollars are spent in cost-effective ways to improve safety and protect the environment. I urge my colleagues to support an amendment I introduced with my colleague from Florida, Representative Stephanie Murphy, which is included in amendments in part B, proposed to be considered en bloc. Our amendment adds an important sense of Congress that the U.S. Department of Transportation ought to maximize the utilization of modeling and simulation technology to analyze federally funded highway and public transit projects. In doing so, we can best ensure that these projects will increase transportation capacity and safety, alleviate congestion, reduce travel time and environmental impact, and are as cost-effective as possible. Modeling and simulation technologies have beneficial purposes--from medicine and vaccine development to natural disaster response. Urban and transportation planners across the country understand the significant benefits of modeling and simulation and as the technology continues to rapidly advance, its precision in mimicking real-world factors and variables continues to yield incredible savings both in manpower and money. I also want to urge my colleagues to support the Chesapeake Bay, one of America's greatest treasures, by supporting two amendments included in part E, proposed to be considered en bloc to improve water quality and the quality of life within the Chesapeake's 64,000 square-mile watershed. I am pleased to introduce the Chesapeake WILD amendment with Representatives Rob Wittman and John Sarbanes, who co-chair the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force with me and introduced the Chesapeake WILD Act with me last year. A great deal has changed since that time, as Americans respond to the COVID-19 pandemic: many have lost jobs and outdoor recreation has become an even more important way for people to stay physically and mentally healthy; yet not everyone in the Chesapeake region has access to safe recreational spaces. In the midst of this year's hurricane season, communities throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed are also bracing for the possibility of another emergency, made more severe by the climate crisis. Each of these challenges has made the Chesapeake WILD grant program more urgent than ever. This amendment will help restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay watershed by investing in green infrastructure, habitat preservation, and ecosystem restoration to enhance community resilience, and improve water quality, all while creating jobs and enhancing economic opportunities throughout the watershed. Along with my friend, Representative Sarbanes' Chesapeake Gateways amendment, which I was pleased to cosponsor along with Representatives Wittman and Harris, this amendment would also increase recreational opportunities in the region. I am proud to see bipartisan support for these amendments, and I look forward to securing their passage. I am also pleased to support an amendment included in part D, proposed to be considered en bloc, which I cosponsored with Congressman Ben Ray Lujan and other supporters of our nation's 17 National Laboratories, including the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility or JLab in my congressional district, where work is being done to advance our understanding of nuclear physics. Funding to address the infrastructure needs and maintenance backlogs across the National Labs system is one way that we can support the work of scientists there, whether on clean energy or a vaccine for COVID-19. In modernizing the National Labs system, we can create shovel-ready construction jobs to put Americans back to work right away and ensure the best and brightest scientists are recruited to careers in national service and research for the common good. Mr. Speaker, these amendments help us move forward in an evidence- based and cost-effective way, supporting coastal communities, ecological recovery, commuters, and research in the national interest, all while creating good jobs. I urge my colleagues to support this bill and these amendments, so that we can make the necessary investments for a future that is more resilient, environmentally responsible, and connected than before.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline).

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act. As we continue to confront the worst public health emergency in recent history, our first priority must be to protect the health and safety of the American people. But during this pandemic, millions of people have lost their jobs and, regrettably, in America when you lose your job you frequently lose your health insurance. Based on the job losses in March and April alone, experts estimate that over 26 million people across the country have lost their job- based health insurance. With so many workers looking to turn to the Affordable Care Act marketplaces for healthcare, we must be building on the progress we have made to expand access to affordable coverage. This is exactly what this bill does. For example, as my colleagues have noted, under this proposal, no person would pay more than 8.5 percent of income on benchmark silver plans through the marketplace. Moreover, we fix the so-called family glitch, a technical problem that prohibits families from getting affordable coverage, and we make that affordable coverage available for millions of working families. The legislation will also provide incentives to expand Medicaid so that low-income families across the country will have coverage regardless of where they live. It builds on existing patient protections by reversing the Trump administration's expansion of short-term so-called junk health plans, which discriminate against patients with preexisting conditions and are not required to cover essential health benefits. These plans raise costs for everybody not in a plan and then abandon the patients when they get sick and actually need coverage. Finally, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act would save money for workers and employees by cutting the cost of prescription drugs and bringing them in line with the cost people in other countries pay. And when they talk about the loss in investments and research, listen very carefully because they are saying that reducing the cost of prescription drugs is a bad thing. And second, they are talking about a previous version of the bill. In this version of the bill we have an amendment in here that puts more money into research and NIH, so that those investments will continue to get made. In contrast, the Trump administration has continued to aggressively pursue the Texas v. United States lawsuit. Just last week, the Department of Justice filed briefs urging that the Supreme Court overturn the Affordable Care Act. If that suit is successful, all of the benefits of the ACA will be lost. Tens of millions of people will lose insurance. People with preexisting conditions will lose their protections. Affordability credits will evaporate. Consumer protections will be lost. This will happen in the middle of a public health emergency. And for all those on the other side that say that the Affordable Care Act has problems, and they have a replacement, remember what the CBO said.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself an additional 1 minute. Remember what the CBO said about the bill that the Republicans passed when they had the majority a few years ago. They said the costs would go up 20 percent the first year, 20 something million fewer people would have insurance, people with preexisting conditions would lose their insurance, and the insurance you get is worse than what you got. We can't afford to take this major step backwards in our efforts to put quality insurance within the reach of all Americans, and this is why I urge all of my colleagues to support the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act so that we can strengthen the ACA and ensure millions of Americans will have access to better health insurance than they have now and certainly better than they would have if this lawsuit is successful. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Shalala), a distinguished member of the Committee on Education and Labor, and the former Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time each side has remaining.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Trone), a distinguished member of the Committee on Education and Labor.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Mrs. Lee), a distinguished member of the Committee on Education and Labor.