Chris Smith

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, Loretta Charbonneau, an amazing wife, mother, friend, campaign volunteer and my congressional district director for 20 years, has passed away. My wife Marie and I knew her as a gifted and compassionate leader since we began working together in the prolife movement beginning in the early 1970s. Family and friends celebrated her life at a memorial Mass at St. Raphaels Catholic Church in Hamilton, New Jersey. Loretta loved her beloved husband George so much and always talked about him and her kids. One of her three children, Mary Roldan, gave a beautiful eulogy and said: ``You knew her greatness, her kindness, her strength, her sense of humor, her positivity, her creativity, her ever- encouraging way and most of all you knew her enduring LOVE. I'm not sure that there are words that can truly express the depth and breadth of our mom, Loretta Charbonneau. It is an incredibly difficult task to try and sum up an entire life in the allotted time given here today of 3 to 5 minutes. But thank God all of you here today knew her. You knew her greatness, her kindness, her strength, her sense of humor, her positivity, her creativity, her ever-encouraging way, and most of all you knew her enduring LOVE. Her love came with no strings attached. She loved you simply because you were you. That quiet acceptance was like being wrapped in a warm blanket. The love that our mother gave was felt deep to your core. She knew that giving that love away to someone else would never take anything away from her but make her stronger. Since our mom's passing, I have had so many people make comments to me about how much our mother impacted their lives by not only the love that she so freely shared but also by her encouraging way. She had such self-love that she always looked to raise up someone else and knew that doing this would not detract from her but add to her. She shared her love and wisdom so freely. Her goal was always to life up the life of another. One of our dear friends from our growing up years said to me your mother was my inspiration growing up. She was amazing and we connected. That just makes me pause and say wow how awesome is that, that someone outside of our family unit could feel that same love we did. Our mother would always say let's lift one another up and make a difference. Well mom you did just that. You succeeded. You lifted up so many, many people. You will be sorely-missed on this physical earth, but you are always with us. Your strength of spirt and love will never die. You have led by example and have passed that love on to the next generation so that we to can make a difference. The mantle has been passed and we accept the challenge. On a personal note, in this experience of losing my mother, I don't think it is sorrow that I feel, but such a complete sense of gratitude toward Life for granting me such a blessing. So, to Life I'd like to say thank you, thank you, thank you. To conclude, my mother's favorite prayer was the prayer of St. Francis. She lived this prayer on the daily. It sums her up in a nutshell. In honor of her, I'd like to say it now. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light, and where there is sadness, joy. O' Divine Master grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Mom, you did all of those things. You led by example. You will live on in us and our children forever. To a life well lived. We love you and you will be missed.'' For all of us, Madam Speaker, we remember Loretta's extraordinary kindness and compassion and her deep and abiding faith in the Lord. When we were expecting our first child, Melissa, in 1978 Loretta hosted a baby shower and boy did we need it. Loretta had an amazing ability to work hard and effectively. She was a doer even for the most difficult tasks and was a great asset in my campaigns for Congress. Loretta officially joined our congressional office in 1982 and it was clear right from the start that she had a remarkable empathy for people, especially those in need and assumed the position of district director in 1985, until she retired in 2005. Twenty years of awesome leadership. Loretta was a tough competitor and thrived on the challenges of political campaigns. Loretta was a problem solver and set a tremendous example of what hard work and leaving no stone unturned looks like. I was always amazed how diplomatically but firmly she would question people seeking our help. She wanted the facts, the truth with no hyperbole. America's national program for assisting persons with Autism started in 1997 in my Whiting office with a meeting put together by Loretta that included the parents of two children with autism from Brick. After a three-hour first meeting followed by many others, we mapped out a strategy and legislation that became law. Like so many initiatives, it took years for our initiative to bear fruit. Loretta was never a quitter. When Navy Lakehurst was put on a DOD list for closure, Loretta put together a meeting of dozens of elected officials just two days after the bad news broke, and together we began the arduous task of saving the base, and against all odds, we succeeded. Loretta is deeply missed, but is remembered with enormous respect, joy and love.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend for yielding me time. I am especially grateful that she has introduced the Uyghur Policy Act, which is particularly timely given the mass spontaneous protests we see arising in China. It is particularly pertinent, given that the spark for the popular demands for freedom was a horrific incident that occurred in Urumqi in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where due to Xi Jinping's draconian zero-COVID lockdown policy, at least 10 people were burned to death with many, many more injured. The bill follows, I would point out, upon an amendment that I had offered at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs markup on June 30, 2021, to the EGLE Act that called for the creation of a special envoy for the Xinjiang region. Such focus is particularly necessary, given the amount of repression directed by the Chinese Communist Party at the Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim Central Asian people, including the Kazakhs and the people from Kyrgyzstan. Xi's genocide--and it is Xi Jinping's genocide; he is directly responsible for this. We know that there are recordings of him saying, ``show no mercy,'' as people are being dragged into concentration camps, as my two previous colleagues pointed out. Forced abortion, forced sterilization, and a whole host of human rights abuses are being committed each and every day, right up to this very moment, and it shows no signs of abatement. In short, this bill is timely. I believe it is necessary, and I urge my colleagues to give its strongest support.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, each October we recognize National Spina Bifida Month and pay tribute to the nearly 166,000 Americans living with Spina Bifida--the most common permanently disabling birth defect compatible with life. Literally translated as ``split spine,'' Spina Bifida is a condition that occurs when a baby's neural tube fails to develop or close properly. Typically occurring within the first 28 days of pregnancy while the neural tube is forming, Spina Bifida often develops before a woman even knows she is pregnant. Sponsored by the Spina Bifida Association (SBA), National Spina Bifida Awareness Month is a time to highlight the needs of the community and recognize the importance of the work done year-round to advance research, programs, and policies aimed at meeting those needs. As co-chair of the Congressional Spina Bifida Caucus, I've had the honor to work alongside SBA to advance Spina Bifida awareness, research, and public health efforts in Congress. Founded in 1973, SBA is the Nation's only organization solely dedicated to advocating for and assisting those living with and affected by this debilitating birth defect. Through its nearly 60 chapters in more than 125 communities, the SBA brings expectant parents together with those who have a child with Spina Bifida. This interaction helps to answer questions and concerns, but most importantly it lends much needed support, solidarity, inspiration, and hope. Madam Speaker, Spina Bifida is a birth defect that can happen to anyone. Every day, an average of eight babies are affected by Spina Bifida and approximately 3,000 pregnancies are affected by this birth defect each year. We do not know the exact cause of this condition, but research has found that if a woman takes 400 mcg of folic acid every day before she becomes pregnant, she reduces her risk of having a baby with Spina Bifida or another neural tube defect by as much as 70 percent. No two cases of Spina Bifida are ever the same and so this birth defect is commonly referred to as the ``snowflake condition.'' Children born with Spina Bifida typically undergo dozens of surgeries before they reach the age of 18. And during their lifetime, someone with Spina Bifida will face at least $1 million in medical expenses, including multiple surgeries, and most can expect to spend much of their lives in a wheelchair or walking with braces. Despite these challenges--and thanks to advances in research and medicine, along with policies supportive of children with disabilities--nearly two-thirds of Americans currently living with Spina Bifida have made it to adulthood. And while these strides are certainly worth celebrating, people with Spina Bifida--particularly adults--continue to face a crisis of care that could be largely prevented with the right resources and policies. There are number of concrete steps we could take that would make dramatic improvements in the ability of adults with Spina Bifida to access quality care. One is to increase funding of the CDC's National Spina Bifida Program--the sole federal program tasked with improving the care and outcomes for people with Spina Bifida. In 2008, the Spina Bifida Program created a National Spina Bifida Patient Registry to collect the scientific data needed to evaluate existing medical services for Spina Bifida patients, and to provide clinicians, researchers, patients, and families a window into what care models are effective and what treatments are not making a measurable difference. Building on this in 2014, the Spina Bifida Program funded the development of a Spina Bifida Collaborative Care Network to identify and to disseminate best practices for the care of people with Spina Bifida at all ages. However, with only $7.5 million in annual funding, there are only 11,000 patients in the national registry, limiting the ability of medical professionals to glean knowledge that would advance research in areas critical to improving quality of life. Even modest increases to this funding would make an enormous difference. Spina Bifida research needs dedicated funding to ensure a better future for Americans with Spina Bifida. This past summer, Christopher Rosati--a young man living with Spina Bifida--worked as an intern in my Washington, D.C. office. I originally met Chris during an advocacy day nearly 18 years ago when he was just 4 years old. After those early days, Chris and I met again when he worked as an intern in my NJ office. Based on his good works, we offered him an internship in my office on Capitol Hill. At each location, during each internship, Chris proved to be a smart, hardworking, reliable member of the team. Undeterred by physical challenges inherent in a commute and in some workspaces, Chris has set his sights on public policy and making a difference. This fall he returned to school as a senior at The College of New Jersey. My entire staff and I have been truly inspired by Chris' determination, dedication, good nature, and success. I am grateful for his contributions in my office, and we all look forward with enthusiasm and anticipation to the positive impact he will bring and the advances he will help achieve--for himself and the populations he will act on behalf of--in any career he pursues. Madam Speaker, with added federal support, more people living with Spina Bifida could receive assistance they need along their life's journey. I invite my colleagues to join me in this mission and join me in the Spina Bifida Caucus to broaden our efforts and advance the goal of a better future for people living with Spina Bifida.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan) for his leadership and for his kind words. I thank the chairman of the Judiciary Committee for sponsoring this extraordinarily important piece of legislation. Mr. Speaker, everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing--I was in Washington here chairing a Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing--when a group of radical jihadists hijacked four airliners to perpetrate the worst act of terrorism in American history. Today, 21 years later, we remember the horror and pain suffered by those who were murdered and the anguish felt by their families and friends both then and now. On the morning of 9/11, I got a mere glimpse into the sense of horror suffered by the victims' families when I couldn't reach my own brother, Tom, an American Airlines 757 captain who often piloted Flight 11 from Logan to L.A., the flight that crashed into the north tower. After several hours, when I finally made contact, he was okay, but he was friends with the crew of Flight 11, all who were killed that day. I ask my colleagues to strongly support H.R. 8987, the Fairness for 9/11 Families Act. This legislation addresses a significant shortcoming in programs made available to the widows and children of 9/11. As I think Members know, in 2015, Congress created the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund to provide compensation to Americans injured in acts of international state-sponsored terrorism. Despite the obvious connection to the 9/11 surviving family members, however, a misinterpretation of the law by the fund's special master unjustly barred spouses and children of 9/11 from participating in the fund. In 2021, at the behest of Congress, the GAO conducted an investigation and found that 5,364 victims, spouses, and dependents were excluded from the fair restitution due to a technicality in the administration of the Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund. H.R. 8987 provides immediate relief, with a lump-sum catch-up payment to the victims' immediate families. For two decades, Mr. Speaker, I have worked with the Jersey Girls to achieve justice--that is what they call themselves--wonderful, wonderful widows who have tried to achieve justice for those who committed these horrific crimes and for those who suffered and were left behind. Because of them, we got the 9/11 Commission. I was the chief Republican sponsor of that bill, but that wasn't because of what we did here as much as it was because of the work that they did in walking the halls and trying to get people to support a 9/11 fund. I point out to my colleagues that Tom Kean, our former Governor, headed that up, along with Lee Hamilton, the distinguished former chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. What they produced after their hearings became the blueprint to protect America. As they noted in their opening statement--and I chaired two hearings about implementing the report--what they said was, We are safer but not safe, and they prescribed both administrative and legislative actions that should be undertaken to protect America. I would note that Kathie Wisniewski, who works on my staff, and lost her husband, Alan, is with us today, Kristen Breitweiser; Mindy Kleinberg; Lorie Van Auken; Kathy Maher and her sons, Joseph and Daniel; and the next generation of 9/11 family advocates, including Angela Mistrulli and Brett Eagleson, who lost his parents on 9/11, were the driving force in achieving this win today, which, again, is a modicum of justice for their egregious loss. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Malliotakis, our colleague from Staten Island, for her work on this and her bill, as well as the chairman's bill, which has a pay-for. I think this is an important, important piece of legislation. I hope every Member of the body will support it.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend for yielding. Madam Speaker, as the former chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the prime author of 14 major laws to assist veterans, including the Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Assistance Act and several healthcare laws as well, I have always deeply respected and strongly supported the unique mission of VA healthcare. Comprised of 172 medical centers and over 1,100 outpatient clinics, the VA operates the largest integrated healthcare network in the entire world. VA medical personnel--371,000 professionals and support staff-- are absolutely committed to healing, nurturing, and rehabilitating. So it is beyond disappointing that President Biden issued an illegal rule--I was here when section 106 of the Veterans Healthcare Act of 1992 was enacted, and it couldn't have been clearer--to turn the lifesaving, life-enhancing mission of the VA into new venues for abortion on demand. And the word health--Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton couldn't have made it more clear, and Doe v. Bolton with the companion opinion issued by the Supreme Court, they defined health. They used the World Health Organization's definition, and it is everything including any kind of mental stress. So it is completely wide-open, abortion-on-demand language. It is not rape, incest, and life of the mother. Health is included in Biden's rule. The new Biden VA abortion rule authorizes and forces taxpayers to fund the violent death of unborn baby girls and baby boys by what? By beheading, dismemberment, forced expulsion from the womb, deadly poisons, and other methods at any time until birth. Abortion, Madam Speaker, is not healthcare unless one construes the precious life of an unborn child to be analogous to a tumor to be excised or a disease to be vanquished. For decades, Madam Speaker, abortion advocates have gone to extraordinary lengths to ignore, trivialize, and cover up the battered baby victim. But today, thanks to ultrasound, unborn babies are more visible than ever before. Today, science informs us that birth is an event--albeit an important one--but it is not the beginning of life. Modern science and medicine today treats unborn children with disability or disease as a patient in need of diagnosis and treatment, not death by abortion. Unborn babies are society's youngest patients and deserve benign, life-affirming medical interventions and not medicines that kill. The weakest and most vulnerable unborn babies deserve our respect, empathy, protection, and love. The legislation before us today will be used to promote the VA's new abortion-on-demand mission. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose it, and, hopefully, we will see a change in the policy sometime in the near future that President Biden has issued.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the bicameral, bipartisan Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2022. I especially want to thank my good friend and colleague, Betty McCollum, for her authorship of this important legislation that will help so many. Today's vote on global food security will show that we can come together to advance the good. For the Global Food Security Act is a model of cooperation, from the collaboration between Congresswoman McCollum and I on previous iterations, which began back in 2014 when I first introduced it, and the House passed the legislation. Madam Speaker, like PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, our food security policy is a remarkably effective, relatively low-cost lifesaving, life-enhancing initiative, championed by both Republican and Democrat administrations. Indeed, we are fortunate that President Bush, beginning in 2002, had the initial foresight to elevate the important role of food security in U.S. foreign policy, especially in Africa, via the Initiative to End Hunger in Africa, or the IEHA, which was funded through development assistance and implemented through USAID. The objective was to help meet the nutritional needs of millions and to elevate self-sufficiency over dependency. At the same time, the Millennium Challenge Corporation began making substantial investments in ag-led economic growth programs, particularly in Africa. The food price crisis of 2007-2008 accelerated and underscored the need for robust food security policy. President Obama, in 2009, announced further enhancements to our food security strategy at the G8 summit in Italy, and this became known as the Feed the Future initiative. Our emphasis on ag-led economic development and food security self- sufficiency continued through the Trump administration and now into the Biden administration. Madam Speaker, last week a World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organization, WFP and FAO, report said the world faces its ``largest food crisis in modern history.'' The report sounds the alarm: 2022, as they put it, is a ``year of unprecedented hunger.'' ``As many as 828 million people go to bed hungry every night, the number of those facing acute food insecurity has soared from 135 million to 345 million since 2019. A total of 50 million people in 45 countries are teetering on the edge of famine.'' ``Conflict,'' they point out, ``is still the biggest driver of hunger, with 60 percent of the world's hungry living in areas afflicted by war and violence. Events unfolding in Ukraine are further proof of how conflict feeds hunger, forcing people out of their homes, and wiping out their sources of income.'' As we all know, the weakest and most vulnerable are dying, and many, many more are at risk of death while millions more are made susceptible to opportunistic diseases while many children continue to suffer from stunting. Many, however, are rallying to mitigate this suffering. As my good friend and colleague from Minnesota pointed out, many of the organizations that have done so much for so long are doing even more now to make sure that we get to the point where people are food secure. And, of course, that includes the secular groups and the faith- based groups all working in tandem for this noble goal. One of the objectives of the Global Food Security Act was to take a whole-of-government approach, led by USAID, in promoting food security. In conducting oversight hearings with regard to its implementation, however, we found that there were several places where a whole-of- agency approach, let alone a whole-of-government approach was lacking. One area that needed attention was to make sure that our nutrition efforts were firing on all cylinders. While the original bill, law, and subsequent reauthorization placed great emphasis on reducing stunting-- and I have seen it all over Africa, as have Betty and many others. You go to Nigeria, and stunting is endemic to this moment. That can all be alleviated through the right kind of nutritional interventions, including the first 1,000 days of life, from conception to the second birthday, with nutrition that helps both mother and baby. We have seen pictures of children with distended bellies caused by worms that rob them of needed nutrients. I chaired several hearings on worms, horrible things to see, growing in little kids, causing them to die, but certainly to be very sick in most cases. USAID, when it came to deworming, often had a more stovepiped approach to it, while this legislation integrates the whole idea of deworming with the food security so that we don't feed the worms, we feed the future, and we feed these wonderful children and all those who are at risk. We also have put in and continue the integration of water, sanitation, and hygiene, or WASH programming, which is also extraordinarily effective. This is a great bill. I hope it gets total support of this body. Again, I thank Betty. I look forward to this vote and enactment into law.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank Vicky Hartzler for authoring this very important and extraordinarily timely resolution. Under Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party is waging war against all faiths: Christians, Falun Gong, Tibetan Buddhists, Muslims, Uyghurs. He is actually committing genocide against the Uyghurs and has been doing it for some time now. Thankfully, this Congress has spoken out before, particularly on the Uyghurs, but we need to speak out again on the Christians who are suffering, the most persecuted group in all of China. Let me say, too, that in calling for sanctions, we have sanctions, Madam Speaker. The Global Magnitsky Act and other sanctions are in place for the violation of the Religious Freedom Act of 1998, and the sanctioning could occur there as a CPC country, a country of particular concern. I believe we need to do more to hold individuals and, collectively, the Chinese Communist Party to account. That goes for all. That goes for Trump when he was in office. It goes for President Biden now. We should have done more. We need to do more now because it is all- out war on religion. I wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post in 1998. I titled it ``The world must stand against China's war on religion'' and noted that the sinicization, making all faiths comport to Xi Jinping's horrible, nightmarish vision for that country, needs to be incorporated. Whole texts, the Bible texts and sacred scriptures of all faiths, are being rewritten in order to comport, again, with his socialist ideology. In 1994, after Tiananmen Square, I went to China. I went there many times--barred from going now. I know Bishop Shu of Baoding Province. Here was a man who spent years being tortured, being deprived of food, but especially being tortured because there were terrible usages of cattle prods and all the other terrible things that they do in Chinese prisons, Laogai. I couldn't believe when he looked me in the eyes and said: I pray for my persecutors. I mean, we all get a little mad when we get a bad editorial or something politically. Here is a man saying he has endured all this, and he prays for the people of China and for his persecutors. I held a hearing as co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, asking Xi Jinping, just this Congress: Where is Bishop Shu? He disappeared. He may have passed away due to the mistreatment, but that is what they do, as well. People all of a sudden just disappear. Numbers of Christians and other believers just go off the face of the Earth. This resolution couldn't be more timely. The Chinese Communist Party is getting worse by the hour. Xi Jinping may get reelected by his peers to a third term as dictator. Our hope is that the Chinese Communist Party will realize they bring gross dishonor to China by their gross misbehavior. Thankfully, the U.N. High Commissioner, as we all know, just released a report calling out China for its genocide. They called it crimes against humanity. That is good. Hopefully, the U.N. Human Rights Council will take this up, as well. We need to do sanctioning, and we need to do it now.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, patients, caregivers, and other advocates across the country come together every September to raise awareness of this condition. As Co-chair--with Representative Lloyd Doggett--of the Congressional Pediatric and Adult Hydrocephalus Caucus I want to express my support for Hydrocephalus Awareness Month and urge my colleagues to join our caucus and cosponsor H. Res. 20, the National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month Resolution. The mission of our caucus is to raise awareness and inspire members of Congress to consider policy options that assist the hydrocephalus community. Hydrocephalus affects over one million Americans--infants, children, adults, and especially our seniors--with a prevalence in our elderly (175/100,000) equal to more than twice as that for infants and children (88/100,000). We need members of Congress and their staff to understand that anyone can acquire hydrocephalus at any time. Hydrocephalus--a build-up of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain--is colloquially known as ``water on the brain.'' Everyone, from babies to the elderly, can develop it. While some cases are congenital, it can also be caused by a traumatic brain injury, an infection, or even just develop as part of the aging process. Brain surgery is the only treatment--many patients endure dozens of surgeries in their lifetime. There is no cure--yet--but Congress can play a role in moving the ball forward. In addition to impacting people across the country, I've seen the success of treating people faced with hydrocephalus in my own district. The pediatric division of New Neurons Neurosurgery Institute (NNNI) in New Jersey, for example, plays a critical role in addressing the needs of thousands of children with hydrocephalus in New Jersey and around the country. With the expertise in the kinds of brain surgeries essential for survival, dedicated medical professionals such as Dr. Lawrence Daniels and his colleagues at NNNI save lives every day. NNNI with Carly Weisman, who organizes the annual Jersey Shore WALK to End Hydrocephalus, are advocating and fighting hard in my district to bring greater awareness and help find a cure. Nationwide, over 400,000 babies a year are born with hydrocephalus. Yet, the United States is not alone in this struggle--it is a worldwide problem--which is why I have introduced the Global Brain Health Act. This Act authorizes hydrocephalus funding from the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. This approach would ensure more robust foreign assistance for treating people in developing countries with hydrocephalus and other brain health-related conditions. It is essential for members of Congress to better understand this condition and its profound impact on the people we represent, and the hydrocephalus caucus is a great way to help achieve that goal. I urge my colleagues to mark Hydrocephalus Awareness Month by joining the bipartisan Congressional Adult and Pediatric Hydrocephalus Caucus and by cosponsoring H. Res. 20. As a member you will not only help raise awareness but may also play a role in creating public policies that lead to better treatments and possibly even a cure.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill, S. 3895, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I and my good friend and colleague, Anna Eshoo, have worked together on many religious freedom issues over the many years and have introduced the House companion bill to the Senate bill before us to authorize the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. It is both timely and essential that we pass this legislation. Timely, because USCIRF's authorization runs out at the end of this month; and essential, because the cause of religious freedom is under sustained and escalating threat around the globe, particularly in the world's remaining communistic dictatorships, from Cuba to Vietnam to North Korea to Iran, and to the world's largest oppressor of religious freedom in the world today, the People's Republic of China under Xi Jinping. Indeed, just today, we see that the great defender for religious liberty, 90-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen, has been put on trial in Hong Kong, a city-state which was once a bastion of freedom, but which now sadly has buckled to the dictates of Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party. All of us here in Congress and the White House need to raise our voices in defense of Cardinal Zen. Sadly, we also need to add to that list of oppressors Nicaragua, where Comandante Daniel Ortega has reestablished his Sandinista dictatorship along communist lines and is waging a relentless war against the Catholic Church, the one institution which has consistently stood up for freedom throughout his tenure of abuse. I would note parenthetically that I met with Ortega in 1984 on a human rights trip with Tony Hall and Frank Wolf, and the man is back. He has been back for a number of years, and his proclivity toward dictatorial rule, imprisoning the very people who run against him--I held a hearing earlier this year with the wives of two of the opponents for him in the general election. What does he do? It was with their wives, and they were very articulate, very passionate, very courageous in speaking out for their husbands. But Ortega says, ``I don't like what you are doing; I don't like that you are running against me,'' so he throws them in prison, and they are still in prison. And his oppression of the church has reached new lows as we speak. Mr. Speaker, USCIRF also calls attention to other issues around the world, including whether you are a Christian or a Muslim or you happen to be Jewish or happen to be a member of a lesser-known faith, such as Baha'i or Falun Gong, USCIRF reports--I encourage everyone to go to their website and read their reports. They are fact-filled, they are very persuasive, based on all these kinds of investigations. The human rights NGOs all feed information to them about what is going on. They talk to the State Department, but they are really a good check on the State Department in terms of getting it right. That is particularly true when it comes to designating certain countries to be CPC countries, countries of particular concern. Unfortunately, the State Department has a less-than-stellar record of picking and choosing and giving passing grades artificially to some countries that ought to be on the CPC designation, which is the worst violator and, therefore, susceptible to sanctioning by the United States Government. As a matter of fact, this just happened with regards to Nigeria, where USCIRF accurately labeled Nigeria a top-tier violator of religious freedom while the State Department gave it an unwarranted upgrade right before the Secretary of State went to Abuja to meet with the President there. We should have said to the President of Nigeria, President Buhari: ``You have got to clean up your act. The killing of Christians, of churches, houses of worship and schools, has to come to an end.'' Some of it he can't stop, but the response could be far better for much of it. Unfortunately, there is serious allegations of aiding and abetting, particularly with Fulani, the killing of Christians there. I would also point out to my colleagues that Nury Turkel, who is the Chairman of the Board of USCIRF, was born, of all places, in a Chinese detention center during the cultural revolution. He has been a leader on behalf of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, as my colleagues on both sides of the aisle know--we all know it--they are committing genocide. Now, we have walking point of USCIRF, a man who was actually born in a detention center, and he has been articulate and strong. Last week, in the China Commission, which I serve as ranking member, when he testified, he just hit it out of the park in terms of good, factual information, persuasive, what next to do, with regards to that genocide and other concerns of all religious faiths that are being oppressed by the Chinese Communist Party. I will end by saying that it is this great Commission that keeps speaking out so boldly about de-Sinicization of all religions in China. That means they all comport with Xi Jinping's etiology. Whether you are Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Uyghur, or Falun Gong, they are breathing down your neck and putting people in prisons if they do not adhere and comport with Xi Jinping's mandates. Frank Wolf is now a member of the Commission, and I congratulate him on that. Here is the guy that wrote the law in 1998, the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. We had real opposition to it. I was one of his cosponsors, and I put together a number of hearings in my committee where the bill first originated. But it was Frank who was the absolute champion, and we named the 2016 act after him to honor the champion work that he is doing, the life-changing work across the globe. I thank Frank for his tenacious defense of religious freedom of all people. Mr. Speaker, USCIRF needs to be reauthorized. I thank my colleague, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the READ Act reauthorization, and I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Bass), my good friend and colleague, for championing this effort. I am proud to be the Republican lead on this bill. There are 50-plus cosponsors on it. It is a bipartisan bill that seeks to encourage and strengthen our efforts at education overseas. Mr. Speaker, investment in basic education is an investment in the prosperity and the security of the next generation and the communities they live in, and that applies both at home and abroad. Without the opportunity to attend school and learn how to read and write, children around the world are falling behind and are more vulnerable to extremism, violence, and exploitation. In the Africa, Global Health, and Global Human Rights Subcommittee, Ms. Bass and I--when I was chairman of the committee and now she as chair--have held a number of hearings about this challenge of helping these children so they can have good lives, care for their families, and be as well read and as well positioned in their communities as humanly possible. That is why the United States is a leader in this sector. The United States provides $950 million to partner countries to support basic education around the world, making strategic investments in improving educational access, quality, and teacher training. While important gains have been made, COVID-19 had a devastating impact on learners, both in the United States and around the world. We all know that from our work within our own constituencies. According to the most recent report to Congress from the ILO on U.S. basic education programs, in 2021, 24 million additional students were at risk of dropping out of school; 22 million more girls and young women were at risk of forced marriages, early marriages especially, as a result of this; and 9 million additional children were at risk of child labor, all because of the impacts of COVID. We need to do a hurry-up offense, I think, to try to get back to normalcy and back to a better regimen of training and teaching. Despite these immense challenges, the U.S. Government's efforts to support basic education programs did reach 33.4 million learners in 73 countries around the world, and I am very proud of the United States' efforts to invest in future generations. It is a credit to our taxpayers that they are supportive of this--and they are--as well as this Congress on both sides of the aisle. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 8503, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support the Securing Global Telecommunications Act introduced by two of my colleagues on the Foreign Affairs Committee, the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Manning) and the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim). The Chinese Communist Party does not hide the fact that its end goal is to replace freedom and democracy with dictatorship and oppression, and they use advanced communications such as 5G networks to spread their malign influence. The CCP seeks to spread that influence further by dominating the international standards-setting bodies that set the rules of the road for emerging technologies to skew those standards and industries toward their interests and industries. This bipartisan bill seeks to bolster U.S. efforts that are already underway, but I think it takes it even further to promote secure telecommunications infrastructure around the world. It will require, for example, that the U.S. Department of State submit a report on Chinese and Russian efforts to advance their interests at international standards-setting bodies, as my colleague from New Jersey just pointed out, like the International Telecommunication Union, or ITU, and to identify opportunities for multilateral collaboration to promote secure telecom providers. Lastly, it codifies the International Digital Economy and Telecommunication Advisory Committee, which the State Department created to provide expert advice to the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy on ICT policy matters. Mr. Speaker, it is a good bill and deserves the support of Members on both sides. I urge its support, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the Countering Untrusted Telecommunications Abroad Act requires the State Department to conduct a report on the presence and risks posed by any Chinese telecommunications vendor like Huawei or ZTE in the networks of defense-allied countries. It also requires the General Accountability Office, or GAO, to report on Chinese and Russian telecom suppliers serving U.S. embassies overseas. Finally, it tasks the State Department with identifying telecom infrastructure projects that will strengthen U.S. national security, and with helping countries currently being serviced by Chinese vendors to build capacity for replacing those vendors. I would hope by now that most U.S. officials understand the threats to U.S. national security posed by tech companies controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, like Huawei. But we must also ensure that our allies and partners are not duped by the seemingly low cost of telecom services provided by state-backed countries. While seemingly cheap, the real cost lies in giving the CCP control over all of your telecommunications data, which they will use to spread their malign influence globally. So I support the bill strongly, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Russia Cryptocurrency Transparency Act, H.R. 7338, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this bipartisan legislation authored by Chairman Meeks and Ranking Member McCaul would exercise oversight of the State Department's use of cryptocurrency as part of its rewards program, as well as measures to improve the efficacy and enforcement of U.S. sanctions against Russia. Emerging technologies like blockchain, the foundation for many cryptocurrencies, offer immense opportunities. For example, people around the world sent aid using cryptocurrency to those fleeing Russia's full-scale barbaric invasion of Ukraine. However, this bill will ensure that the U.S. is taking the necessary steps to prevent these emerging technologies from undermining sanctions, including those currently aimed at bankrupting Putin's war machine. While the rise of digital assets like cryptocurrencies promise innovative financial opportunity, digital assets could be ripe for abuse as Russia seeks to evade the unprecedented sanctions the United States and Europe have imposed for Vladimir Putin's brutal war of choice on Ukraine. This legislation will provide greater oversight in the State Department's rewards program, helping ensure that these hard-to-trace funds are not falling into the hands of bad actors. It also will help the State Department develop sanctions enforcement mechanisms to prevent sanctions evasion through the use of cryptocurrencies. Given the tremendous need for humanitarian support as Europe faces the largest influx of refugees since World War II, this legislation also asks the State Department to assess how crypto can be used to support humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians fleeing the war. Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), who is the ranking member on the Financial Services Committee. He is author of this important legislation, and in the past, Mr. Speaker, he served under George Herbert Walker Bush as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Treasury. He also was the special assistant for economic policy under 41, George Herbert Walker Bush, so he brings a wealth of knowledge and information that we are blessed to have here in this House.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, French Hill, for authoring this very, very important piece of legislation. It mandates an interagency strategy on how the U.S. is responding to the destabilizing Captagon drug trade in the Middle East. Captagon, as I think my colleagues know, is a highly addictive amphetamine that is fast becoming the most widely abused drug in the Middle East. Given the growing threat Captagon poses to the stability in the region and to individual human lives, the lack of resources devoted to address its proliferation is alarming. In addition to this drug trade creating a crisis along Jordan's border, there is growing evidence that the murderous Assad regime is deeply involved in Captagon trafficking. This narco trafficking fuels Assad's war on the Syrian people and further threatens regional stability. The administration clearly is not doing enough, as was pointed out by my good friend and colleague, French Hill, to focus on this threat, which is why we need this bill to admonish the administration and to force the administration, the executive branch, to acknowledge this problem and to respond to it. The CAPTAGON Act will help ensure that we are countering this destabilizing drug trade which is helping to bankroll one of the most brutal tyrants of our time. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the resolution. I would like to start off by thanking my good friend and colleague, Ted Deutch, for not only introducing this important resolution but his tremendous work during his tenure in the House, particularly in combating anti-Semitism. There is no better friend of Israel than Ted Deutch, and there is no better friend of the Jewish community that is under siege here in the United States and around the world than Ted Deutch. He and I co-chaired the House Anti-Semitism Task Force. As we all know, and many of my colleagues know, he is leaving on October 1 to head up the American Jewish Committee, AJC. What is AJC's gain is our loss, for Mr. Deutch has brought character and leadership to this Congress, and he will be deeply missed, and I thank him again for his very, very strong voice. Mr. Speaker, as the Lebanese lira continues its downward decline, Hizballah has become increasingly reliant on illicit criminal networks across Europe to help finance their criminal enterprise. Combating Hizballah's malign activity requires robust transatlantic law enforcement cooperation. This can only take place once Hizballah is designated as a terrorist organization in its entirety. Recognizing an arbitrary distinction between Hizballah's political and military wings gives Hizballah space to operate across Europe, providing legal cover for its military wing to continue financing terrorism through its political branch. There is no distinction between Hizballah's political and military wings--both serve the same ugly malign agenda that seeks to undermine the stability of the Lebanese state, prop up the murderous dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad, and threaten Israel's security. Mr. Speaker, I welcome the recent steps taken by Germany and others to designate Hizballah in full as a terrorist organization, and all of the European Union needs to do likewise. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, today Jean M. McDermott would have turned 94. The ``adored wife, awesome mother, successful executive assistant and cherished friend,'' died earlier this year on April 1, and now is rejoicing in Heaven with our Lord and her husband, Jack, who predeceased her and, we are sure, received her with wide open arms. At Jean's funeral Mass on April 9th, her two children John and Mary gave heartwarming, moving eulogies. I share them today to remember Jean on her birthday through the words of her two ``favorite accomplishments.'' The statement of John J. McDermott, III. The statement of Mary McDermott Noonan. ``Jeanne'' McDermott: a woman of unwavering guiding principles. by John J. McDermott, III I have recently had the distinct pleasure to speak at 2 very special, though different, ceremonies: My daughter, Tara's wedding to Sean; and My Mother, Jeanne's heavenly reunion with my Father, Jack, her sweetheart of 70 years. JEANNE'S FAITH and GUIDING PRINCIPLES. Jeanne Margaret McDermott was a woman of strong faith and unwavering guiding principles. And like Jack, Jeanne was a dedicated practicing Catholic, who was devoted to Mary, the Blessed Mother. Notably, my sister, Mary, was named after the Blessed Mother, having been born, not coincidentally according to Jeanne, on December 8th, the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception. And at various times, Jeanne regularly attended Mass at: Mary Mother of God in Hillsborough, NJ; Queen of Apostles in Alexandria, VA; and Immaculate Conception in Mauch Chunk, PA. And for good measure, her grandson, Johnny, has spent more than half of his life at Notre Dame, the Irish Catholic University of Our Lady. Known as a first-class communicator, one of Jeanne's guiding principles was that: ``Do one more version, as you can always improve your communication.'' I am sure that this is why, with Jeanne looking over my shoulder from up above, I have continued to edit these remarks right up until game time. Another guiding principle for Jeanne was her intolerance for anything but the whole truth, agreeing with Judge Judy, that: ``If you tell the truth, you don't need a good memory.''

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the bill, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I want to convey my special thanks to Chairwoman Karen Bass for her exceptional leadership, partnership, and friendship. For years, we have worked together to combat the unspeakable crime and abject cruelty of sex and labor trafficking. The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Act is just the latest bold initiative in our mutual commitment to end modern-day slavery. I want to thank Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and especially Chairman Meeks and Ranking Member McCaul for having favorably reported the bill from the Foreign Affairs Committee on February 9. Majority Leader Hoyer was especially helpful and has ensured timely consideration during this month of July, just in time to commemorate the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. As my colleagues know--we have all been through this--but in this case there were five full committee referrals for this bill. It can be very challenging getting the committee chairmen and ranking members to agree, and I am grateful to them for their good faith in coming together for this important human rights cause and making sure that this legislation was brought to the floor. Madam Speaker, I have been working on human trafficking since 1995. I have chaired more than 35 hearings and written five anti-trafficking laws including the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. Many in the United States--and I'm grateful that this is so bipartisan--and many around the world have rallied to stop this hideous abuse, yet it couldn't be clearer that much more needs to be done. Traffickers never take a holiday, nor can we. Because traffickers and the nefarious networks that they lead always find new ways to exploit the vulnerable, we must aggressively strengthen our laws, and we must be equally aggressive in the implementation of those laws. The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Act is a bipartisan, survivor-informed bill. Karen and I first introduced the bill nearly 11 months ago on Frederick Douglass' 183rd anniversary of his self-emancipation, and we were joined at the introduction by Kenneth Morris--Frederick Douglass' great-great-great- grandson. Ken has been a tremendous friend and ally in this human rights struggle and helped us write the bill. Born a slave--as I think many people know--back in 1818, Frederick Douglass disguised himself as a sailor and traveled from Baltimore to New York. A renowned abolitionist and statesman--and a Republican--he continued to lead the fight to end slavery, Jim Crow laws, and advance respect and equality. The Frederick Douglass TVPRA honors this great man by significantly enhancing programs, strengthening our laws and adding new ones, and adding accountability for programs at the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and State to combat human trafficking and to offer sustainable solutions, solutions that work. This bill ensures robust prevention through trafficking prevention education--situational awareness for our children, their teachers, and parents--stabilization of survivors once they are no longer in the hands of traffickers, and long-term solutions that facilitate healing and survivor empowerment. Frederick Douglass once said: ``It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.'' We want to prevent trafficking from occurring in the first place. That is why we have authored this legislation. We create an age- appropriate, scalable program to train the trainers, use proven and tested best practices, and include training parents and guardians in trafficking prevention education. This bill also properly designates these grants as the Frederick Douglass Prevention Education Grants. I know all of my colleagues are aware of Megan's Law which protects children domestically. In 2008 I introduced International Megan's Law. It passed the House three times and almost died in the Senate until the third iteration of it. It was signed into law in 2016, and now it is being reauthorized in this bill as well. Megan Kanka was from my former hometown of Hamilton. She was just 7 years old when she was kidnapped, raped, and brutally murdered in 1994. Her assailant lived right across the street. Unbeknownst to her family and other residents in the neighborhood, he was a convicted, repeat child sex offender. Her parents, Maureen and Richard Kanka, are heartbroken to this day. They have been amazingly effective, courageous, and heroic in successfully pushing every State in the Union to enact Megan's Law. So why International Megan's Law? We know from law enforcement, academia, and media documentation that Americans on the U.S. sex offender registries are frequently caught abusing children all over the world: Asia, Central and South America, and Europe--as I said, everywhere. Under International Megan's Law, convicted child sex offenders who travel abroad must provide notice to the U.S. Government through the Angel Watch Center prior to departure of all planned destinations. Failure to do so carries a significant jail term. Upon receipt of the travel itinerary, the U.S. Government informs the destination country or countries of those plans. In just a few years of working--and that is with people not traveling as much during Covid-19, the pandemic--the U.S. Government has notified foreign governments of the planned travel of 19,000 covered child sex offenders, and more than 7,000 individuals who were convicted of crimes against children were denied entry to these nations. The Douglass bill, Madam Speaker, also requires international programs to focus on best practices in their integration of counter- trafficking efforts into their development portfolios. This way we can make the best use of our foreign assistance at the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The bill realigns efforts to meet fundamental needs of survivors through wrap-around social services with case management, including assistance with obtaining housing, life-skills training, and mental health care, while also providing long-term solutions through job coaching and training, and assistance with obtaining employment and higher education. This approach is fundamental to meeting survivors' needs on their continuum of healing. As Frederick Douglass, again, once said: ``Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.'' Rather than quick fixes that can leave survivors vulnerable to re- trafficking, the Frederick Douglass bill invests wisely in systemic and dignified solutions by providing survivors opportunities for the education and jobs they need to become self-reliant and even leaders. It provides, for the first-time, $35 million for Housing Assistance Grants For Victims of Human Trafficking. The number of people without housing in the U.S. continues to climb, while trafficking victims are extraordinarily vulnerable if they don't have a place to live. We cannot forget what is happening in Ukraine. There is good language in the bill calling to our attention all of those who have been so horribly mistreated and trafficked. I thank Chairwoman Bass for really bringing a focus to foster care and the fact that so many of our foster care children have been trafficked. It is a place of extreme vulnerability. She has very good language that she has put into this bill--we worked together--but it was her initiative on that issue. The ILO says that there are nearly 25 million people in the world who are enslaved and that most are women and children. That is unconscionable. Every human life is of infinite value. We as lawmakers have a duty to protect the weakest and most vulnerable from harm. I yield such time as he may consume to gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from Texas for his very fine statement, and I look forward to a recorded vote. I also want to say very clearly that we have a very, very broad bipartisan group of stakeholders who are for this, including, as I mentioned a moment ago, Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, the Douglass Leadership Institute, Frederick Douglass Foundation, along with 300 anti-trafficking and human trafficking organizations, over 500 advocates and survivors, and they have worked tirelessly with us over the last 18 months, with both Karen Bass and me in crafting this legislation. We even had more. Some of them did drop out, but we will come back some day in the future to get some of that. But it is a good solid bill. Survivor leaders like Bella Hanoukey and Robert Lung provided valuable insights and expertise for this bill. As I said, Kenneth Morris was outstanding in the work that he provided for us. As a matter of fact, as the special representative for human trafficking for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, a couple of years ago, I brought him into one of our big parliamentary assembly meetings, and there were at least 100-plus lawmakers from the European space that heard him speak about the importance of prevention. If young people know what is out there and what is waiting--particularly run-aways-- they will be forearmed and forewarned and, hopefully, can mitigate the possibility of being trafficked themselves. He hit it out of the park, and he has been a great friend on this. We also have 3Strands Global Foundation; the Safe House Project; America First Policy Institute; End Child Prostitution and Trafficking USA; ECPAT, with whom we work very closely; the American Hotel and Lodging Association; the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking, that is known as ATEST. They have a great group and consortium of groups. We have the International Justice Mission, IJM; World Vision; United States Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking; Shared Hope International; Hope for Justice; National Child Protection Task Force; Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, also known as RAINN; the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who also worked with us closely on it; the National Center on Sexual Exploitation; and the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. They all provided valuable insights, as I mentioned a moment ago. I want to thank Mark Iozzi and Jamie Jackson from the majority leader's office for working closely with Chairwoman Bass and me and who helped bring this to the floor today; Chris Bien and Will Dunham from the minority leader's office; Janice Kaguyutan--I want to thank her for her help as she has done before on trafficking and legislation; and Doug Anderson. I want to thank Mary Vigil who is sitting right behind me. For the last 18 months she has been meeting with all the groups working and drafting this legislation. She has done an amazing job. I want to thank her for her leadership. She used to work at USAID. She has got a heart for vulnerable people, and I can't thank her enough for that. I thank Piero Tozzi, our chief counsel for the Lantos Commission on the Republican side and Mary Noonan, my Chief of Staff, Tomekah Burl and Meghann Galloway, Karen Bass' staff who were also outstanding. It was a full court press and a great deal of collaboration. I thank them and my distinguished staff and all the Members who got together behind this. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, several pro-abortion policies are embedded in this bill, including section 4(b)(1), which states that ``any healthcare providers who provide contraceptives may not be singled out through any limitation or requirement.'' What does that language mean? Simply put, any Federal or State policy that ensures that taxpayer-funded family planning clinics are not colocated with abortion clinics would now be absolutely prohibited under the bill. In 2019, President Trump promulgated the protect life rule, reestablishing Ronald Reagan's Title X rule that prohibited taxpayer funding of the hundreds of family planning clinics that were colocated with abortion clinics. All funds were then redirected to family planning clinics that were not taking the lives of unborn babies. The original Title X statute of 1970 made clear that voluntary family planning projects should not be in a program where abortion is a method of family planning. President Reagan issued that rule in 1988. It was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in Rust v. Sullivan. Any future President now, if this legislation is enacted, would be precluded by law from reestablishing the protect life rule or any similar policy. Madam Speaker, Title X was intended to be about family planning, not abortion promotion.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the ranking member, for her eloquent defense of the unborn child and their mothers because there are two co-victims in every abortion: mother and baby. I thank her for her leadership. It is extraordinary. Madam Speaker, according to the January 2022 Marist Poll, only 17 percent of Americans believe that ``abortion should be available to a woman any time she wants one during her entire pregnancy.'' When Americans were asked in late June--June 28 to 29--in a Harvard/ Harris Poll, a nationwide poll supervised by Mark Penn--and many of us know him; he is a very effective pollster--and the question was put: ``Do you think your State should allow abortions up to 9 months'' only 10 percent said ``yes.'' H.R. 8296 would legally authorize and enable the violent death of unborn baby girls and boys by dismemberment, beheading, forced expulsion from the womb, deadly poisons, or other methods at any time and for any reason until birth. Don't believe it? Read section 4 of the bill. It couldn't be clearer. This bill is far outside the American mainstream and goes far beyond Roe v. Wade. As a matter of fact, when the Harvard/Harris Poll asked whether or not we should be doing what we are doing today in Congress, they found--and I was a little bit astonished by this--that less than one- third of voters--31 percent--say that abortion laws should be federally set by a congressional vote. Let me point out to my colleagues because mention was made of this earlier in the debate. Let me be clear, abortion is not healthcare unless one construes the precious life of an unborn child to be analogous to a tumor to be excised or a disease to be vanquished. This legislation constitutes an existential threat to unborn children. Since Roe v. Wade, approximately 63\1/2\ million babies have been killed by dismemberment, chemical poisoning, and beheading--a number that equates with the entire population of everyone living in the country of Italy. If enacted, this bill would nullify almost every pro-life restriction ever enacted by the States, including parental involvement laws in 37 States and pain-capable unborn child protection laws in 19 States. I remember when a woman from Virginia formed a group called Mothers Against Minors' Abortion. That mom found out about her daughter's abortion when she was hemorrhaging in her bed. She came and testified before Congress and said: Please, we need to know. We love our daughters. Parental notification laws do work. Sadly, these will be nullified by this bill. For decades abortion advocates have gone through extraordinary lengths to ignore, trivialize, or cover up the battered baby victim. But today, thanks to ultrasound, unborn babies are more visible than ever before. Today science informs us that birth is an event--albeit, an important one--but only an event in the life of a child. Life is a continuum. Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to oppose this bill. The youngest patients and their mothers need protection.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, the Smith-Norcross amendment to the Fiscal Year 2023 NDAA directs the Army Corps of Engineers to ensure high-quality workmanship on federal construction projects by providing each of their districts with clarifying, uniform guidance and to enforce compliance more strongly with already existing laws--especially the Davis-Bacon Act--that mandate proper worker classification and the corresponding wages. Additionally, it requires the Corps to investigate worker classification complaints and third-party related complaints within 30 days of filings and reaffirms transparency and disclosure requirements for certified payroll reports. For years, we have witnessed disingenuous contractors purposely hire underqualified workers for military construction projects and put them in high-skilled jobs for which they lack the needed expertise--a practice known as ``worker misclassification''. These contractors dishonestly undercut their more skilled, better-value competitors, only to have those important projects mismanaged, understaffed, delayed, unfinished, and in some cases, rebid--then properly redone by high- skilled tradesmen and women who should have gotten the job in the first place. There are two different types of misclassification: craft misclassification and independent contractor misclassification. Craft misclassification occurs when dishonest contractors misclassify high- skilled workers as general laborers or lower wage classifications in order to avoid paying the higher prevailing wage rate applicable to the high-skilled work actually performed. Independent contractor misclassification occurs when contractors misclassify employees as independent contractors to avoid paying prevailing wages thereby reducing labor costs and avoiding state and federal taxes. These practices deny workers of their rights to critical benefits and protections, including prevailing wages, worker's compensation, and unemployment insurance; and communities suffer because misclassification results in lower tax revenues for federal, state, and local governments. Additionally, the end product is often compromised by shoddy workmanship which can lead to do-overs and substantial cost overruns. Congress has passed laws to prevent such problems and punish the offenders. The Davis-Bacon Act is critical in this effort as it requires contractors working on certain federally funded construction projects to pay their workers a prevailing wage to ensure that our federal projects are completed by skilled workers who have been properly trained, classified, and paid according to their expertise and locality. The Act stands as a check and balance designed to protect employees from low-wage, low-bidding contractors who look to do the job cheaply while hurting the workers and the client, i.e. the federal taxpayer. When it comes to domestic construction projects, the Army Corps of Engineers procures more than most divisions of the Department of Defense. As recently as 2019, the Corps obligated over $11 billion for domestic construction contracts, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO)--the federal government's ``watchdog'' agency. Each federal agency is primarily responsible for enforcing the Davis- Bacon protections at its construction worksites. The Army Corps has a lot of construction projects and federal construction monies to properly oversee. Unfortunately, federal construction projects in my district, including Army Corps projects at Joint Base McGuire-Dix- Lakehurst--have fallen short in oversight and compliance and have run into trouble with unqualified, subpar bidders who avoid hiring needed skilled workers. We have seen cases of sophisticated work--HVAC, plumbing and sheet metal--needing to be ripped up and redone after the irresponsible bidders failed to properly do the work. To combat this persistent problem and ensure these important laws are being enforced, in 2019, Congress passed an amendment I authored, cosponsored by Congressman Norcross, to the 2020 NDAA directing the GAO to study the contracting practices of the Corps with a focus on the monitoring and enforcement of the Davis-Bacon Act. The GAO conducted its audit from May 2020 to March 2021 examining Corps guidance, relevant documents about the Davis-Bacon Act, Department of Labor guidance and other relevant laws and regulations. They conducted semi-structured interviews in four Army Corps district offices--Louisville, New Orleans, New York and Walla Walla--based on the district's activities and representing ``various geographical areas in the U.S. and a mixture of volume and type of construction contracts (e.g. military and civil projects)''. They interviewed Corps headquarters officials, DOL officials and four external groups including two labor unions and two trade associations. The GAO said that ``monitoring, including payroll reviews and on-site inspections, are key to ensuring that the Corps enforces contractor's compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act''. But the report also described implementation inconsistencies across the various districts that can easily lead to gaps in compliance with Davis-Bacon. The GAO concluded that aspects of the reviews and on-site inspections ``may not be sufficient.'' They found that ``Corps documents lack information'' and said that ``In the absence of directions to consistently document on-the-ground conditions, like the number of employees on site'' district officials ``may not be fully using on-site inspection to ensure contractors' compliance with the [Davis-Bacon] Act.'' Ultimately, the GAO recommended that the Army Corps provide clarifying information on how they conduct payroll reviews and document on-site inspections to ensure the proper monitoring of the number of workers and work performed. More work remains to be done to implement these recommendations and crack down on this harmful practice. Today's amendment addresses those problems and instructs the Corps' to fully comply with relevant federal laws and regulations for: building quality facilities--labs, hangars, housing, and workspaces-- for our military men and women; providing an honest wage for construction workers; and providing the best investment for the taxpayer. Mr. Speaker, working with partners such as the AFL-CIO, North America's Building Trades Unions, New Jersey trades like the IBEW and the Plumbers and Pipefitters, and my friend, Congressman Norcross, we can finally ensure that military construction is done with the best possible workmanship, that we make best use of the hardworking Americans' taxpayer dollars, and that the men and women who work with our military are treated fairly.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I respectfully ask the House today to adopt my amendment--the Kyle Mullen Naval Safety Enhancements--that directs the Secretary of Defense to conduct an appraisal of and provide recommended policies for improved medical care and oversight of individuals in the Navy engaged in high-stress training like the Navy SEALS to better ensure sailor safety and prevent related long-term injury, illness, and death. In February of this year, my constituent Kyle Mullen passed away after completing the rigorous training of `Hell Week' as a Navy SEAL candidate. The autopsy report cited pneumonia and staph infection as the cause of death. Kyle was an extraordinary talented and gifted young man--a true leader who selflessly enlisted in the Navy to serve our nation and protect our freedom. Kyle was a world class athlete and was a basketball standout and Captain of both Manalapan High School and Yale University Football teams. Kyle's mother--Regina--a nurse told me in a heartbreaking conversation in her home that Kyle's death could have been prevented had her son received timely medical attention. Regina has many questions that demand answers. Meanwhile, this grieving mom has made it clear and with great urgency and resolve that Congress and DOD must insist that medical care, aggressive monitoring, and oversight be provided now, without delay, to every Navy SEAL candidate during high-stress training.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I, for many, many decades, have had a strong and very deep commitment to the people of the Republic of Georgia. As a matter of fact, after Russia invaded South Ossetia and Abkhazia in 2008, I traveled to Tbilisi, and spent a week there, with a people at war. As it turned out, there were three young people from my district who were stuck behind enemy lines. One being held up in and very fearful in Abkhazia, and two who were in South Ossetia. And when I went, several Members of Congress gave me names of people that were also behind the South Ossetia and Abkhazia Russia-dominated lines. It was very tense, with Chechens walking around with guns, drunk and committing atrocities. We were all concerned. Within a week or so, we got all of the children out. We worked with the OSCE mission there, we worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross, and with the French, who had the chair in office that year for the European Union. That ambassador actually traveled to the place where the two children in South Ossetia were, put them in his car, and brought them to safety. So, Georgia and the importance of our strong friendship with the Georgian people, and their heroic resistance to Russia, has always been close to my heart. And also, I note that past is prologue. The same justifications Putin used for invading Crimea--that they were going in to liberate Russians--was the exact same pretext used in Georgia. What a lie and deception that was and is. Putin simply seeks to reconstitute the Soviet empire under himself. So I'm very supportive of the intent behind the legislation. I had offered an amendment at markup, which was voted down on strictly partisan lines, which I believe would have made this legislation more precise and also improved its chance for passage in the Senate. Simply put, I had offered an amendment that would have replaced the vague and imprecise ``serious human rights abuses'' language with the phrase ``Gross violations of internationally-recognized human rights,'' which has a long-standing, defined meeting in U.S. law, as codified in the Foreign Assistance Act, 22 U.S.C. 2304(d)(1). To wit, ``gross violations of internationally recognized human rights'' includes ``torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges and trial, causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction and clandestine detention of those persons, and other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty or the security of the person.'' The reason this is relevant is because recently, our colleagues across the aisle sought to import the imprecise ``serious human rights abuses'' language into the Global Magnitsky Act, and again had rejected offers to negotiate compromise language that would have tied such abuses to specific treaties the United States had ratified, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention Against Torture. As a result, that held up passage of the Global Magnitsky Act, which otherwise had broad bipartisan support in the Senate, and caused a stalemate until the parties agreed to revert to the previous, precisely-defined ``gross violations of internationally-recognized human rights'' language. Similarly, this Georgia bill otherwise enjoys broad bipartisan support, but for the vague and imprecise formulation, which now will likely have to be fixed in the Senate. I also note that I had tried to find a solution which could have kept the ``serious human rights abuses'' language, but would have tied it to abuses that were specified elsewhere in the legislation so as to avoid vagueness, namely ``detentions, kidnappings, and other human rights violations committed in the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia forcibly occupied by the Russian Federation including [] recent killings' and similar violations of human rights.'' My colleagues across the aisle, I anticipate will again say that we have used ``serious human rights abuses'' in other country- and region- specific legislation. Leaving aside the fact that that was before the recent attempted Global Magnitsky partisan end run, I would also point out that ``serious human rights abuses'' were tied to specific abuses specified in the legislation at issue. Thus in past legislation we called out ``serious abuse or violation of human rights against persons associated with the protests in Nicaragua that began on April 18, 2018,'' or ``serious human rights abuses connected with forced labor'' in Xinjiang. That was all that we were asking for here--either adopt a precise statutory definition, ``gross violations of internationally-recognized human rights,'' or tie ``serious human rights abuses'' to what is specified in the legislation. But instead, we got a party line vote and a raw exercise of power, marring what should have been a unified statement of support of the Republic of Georgia and opposition to the butcher Vladimir Putin. I have been in Congress for over 40 years. I have been in the minority, and I have been in the majority. On bills like this, we used to try to find unity. I am sad to say that the raw exercise of political power that we have seen with regard to both the Global Magnitsky bill and this Georgia Support Act, and the unwillingness to seek compromise in the face of legitimate concerns that an ideologically-driven administration could use vague language to pursue an agenda that is not shared by over half the country, has disappointed me. I am not going to oppose this bill, given the larger context of support for the oppressed people of Georgia. Majorities come, and majorities go. I wish that my colleagues across the aisle had been willing to compromise and find common ground, but they did not. With passage, it is on to the Senate.