Adam Schiff

Mr. SCHIFF

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, my colleagues have referred to patriotic Americans who testified before the Intelligence Committee as career bureaucrats. I want to remind people just who those career bureaucrats are. They are people like Ambassador Bill Taylor, who has served this country for decades. He graduated top in his class at West Point, served during Vietnam in combat, and earned a Bronze Star. They are people like Colonel Vindman, who served in Iraq and earned a Purple Heart. They are people like Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, who served in dangerous places all over the world, one of the most respected of all of our Foreign Service officers. These are the people who my colleagues would pejoratively label as ``career bureaucrats.'' Why? Because they have the courage to do their lawful duty, to answer a subpoena and to come and testify. For this, they are called career bureaucrats. Well, we should have more career bureaucrats of that caliber. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa).

Mr. SCHIFF

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and rise in support of the fiscal 2020 NDAA conference report. This legislation supports our national security and it also accomplishes long-sought Democratic priorities, like extending paid paternal leave to over 2 million Federal employees. I hope that this achievement will pave the way to making paid paternal leave the norm across the workforce. I am very pleased that as a part of this legislation, we are also passing the fiscal year 2018, 2019, and 2020 Intelligence Authorization Acts, aptly named in honor of HPSCI's Damon Nelson and SSCI's Matt Pollard, two dedicated staffers who tragically passed away last year. The Intelligence Authorization Act is the primary legislative product of the Committee on Intelligence and securing its passage into law after it passed the House with nearly 400 votes, strengthens our oversight of the intelligence community and military intelligence immeasurably. I am also proud that the IAA includes many vital important provisions; among them, protecting our elections from foreign interference, understanding and mitigating the effects of climate change, and a competition to improve Deepfake detection. While I support the bill, it is a bitter pill that bipartisan House amendments to finally fix the injustice that has kept 74 sailors who died aboard the USS Frank E. Evans in 1969 off the Vietnam Memorial was removed from the conference report. I will not relent on that issue until we get it done. I am also disappointed that the repeal of the 2002 AUMF was removed. There is no reasonable basis to keep this outdated authorization in effect. Nevertheless, I congratulate the chair and ranking member on their good work. And I personally thank all of the members of the Intelligence Committee's staff for the extraordinary work that the staff did for many years on this legislation. I thank my fellow members of the intelligence community as well. We have worked now for 3 years to reach this point. I am very grateful that these important provisions will now pass into law.

Mr. SCHIFF

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Neal Dudovitz, who recently retired from his position as Executive Director of Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County (NLSLA). A visionary leader and advocate in providing access to legal representation and justice to the underprivileged for over four decades, Mr. Dudovitz has served the Los Angeles area for the last twenty-five years at NLSLA. During his time at NLSLA, Neal was instrumental in helping the organization reach its full potential to become one of the most prominent public interest legal services firms in the State of California. When he joined NLSLA in 1993, there was a staff of thirty members, one office and the budget was three million dollars; today, NLSLA has one hundred-fifty staff members, four offices, and a budget nearing twenty million dollars. Under Mr. Dudovitz' leadership, NLSLA developed an efficient model of service delivery that combined impact litigation, policy advocacy and direct representation to support opportunities for families to move themselves out of poverty, reduce the effects of poverty, and to enforce and protect the legal rights of the underprivileged by ensuring access to the justice system. The organization now has one of the largest networks of self-help legal access centers in the country. In addition, NLSLA directed an innovative project of Medical Legal Community Partnerships which places NLSLA attorneys in community hospital and clinics, led a collaborative of programs in Los Angeles that provides legal representation to those facing eviction in impoverished neighborhoods, and initiated the Health Consumer Center, which has helped thousands of people access critical care, and which led to successful lawsuits that altered how Los Angeles County administered its Medi-Cal program. Additionally, Mr. Dudovitz has been a tireless and effective advocate for legal services for the underserved and underprivileged, and has been a partner to me in my efforts to support the Legal Services Corporation. The awards that Mr. Dudovitz has received and the organizations he has been active in throughout his career is indicative of his prominence as a leader, mentor and agent of change. He received the Section Achievement Award from the State Bar of California Legal Services and was named one of the San Fernando Valley Business Journals' Top 25 lawyers. In addition, Neal served as a delegate to The White House Conference on Aging and was an active member of the Lawyer's Advisory for the Legal Aid Association of California. I ask all members to join me in honoring Neal Dudovitz for his outstanding contributions to the Los Angeles community and offering our best wishes upon his retirement

Mr. SCHIFF

Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 615. Stated against:

Mr. SCHIFF

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 660. I rise in strong support, but I do not take any pleasure in the events that have made this process necessary. I rise in strong support of the resolution, but I do so with an understanding that the task before us is a solemn one. How each Member of this Chamber approaches the vote this morning, and the days and weeks ahead, may be the most important service as Members of Congress we will ever pay to the country and Constitution that we all love and have pledged to defend. For the past several weeks, the Intelligence Committee, the Oversight and Reform Committee, and the Foreign Affairs Committee have engaged in an intensive investigation. That work, which has been conducted with equal opportunities for both parties to question witnesses, has added a great deal to our understanding of the President's conduct, as evident in the July 25 call record and the events that both preceded and followed that call. That work has necessarily occurred behind closed doors because we have had the task of finding the facts ourselves, without the benefit of the investigation that the Justice Department declined to undertake. Despite attempts to obstruct, we have interviewed numerous witnesses who have provided important testimony about the efforts to secure political favors from Ukraine. We have reviewed text messages among key players which show how securing political investigations was placed at the forefront of our foreign policy toward Ukraine. This resolution sets the stage for the next phase of our investigation, one in which the American people will have the opportunity to hear from the witnesses firsthand. We will continue to conduct this inquiry with the seriousness of purpose that our task deserves, because it is our duty and because no one is above the law. Madam Speaker, I urge passage of the resolution.

Mr. SCHIFF

Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 296, which I introduced along with Representative Bilirakis to recognize and commemorate the Armenian genocide. This is a vote that I have fought for 19 years to cast. My wonderful colleagues, Anna Eshoo and Jackie Speier, have fought far longer than I have. It is one that tens of thousands of my constituents, my Armenian American constituents, have waited decades to see. It is a moment that so many have worked and struggled and prayed for, a moment when the House of Representatives refused to be enlisted in the cause of genocide denial. This April would have marked the 104th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, the systematic murder of 1.5 million Armenians, and the displacement of millions more by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923. Many other religious and ethnic minorities in the Ottoman Empire met similar fates, among them the Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and others. More than a century later, it is our solemn responsibility to remember those who were lost, to seek justice and restitution, and to educate Americans and those around the world about the crime of genocide. The facts of the genocide are horrific and undisputed by historians. They were recorded by American diplomats serving in the Ottoman Empire at the time who bore witness in official cables to the annihilation of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire, a crime that at the time had no name. Though it lacked a name, there was no doubt in the observers of the time that they were witnessing a crime on a massive and industrial scale. The U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, would recall later: ``I am confident that the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode as this. The great massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost insignificant when compared with the sufferings of the Armenian race in 1915.'' It was only decades later that Raphael Lemkin, a Holocaust survivor, coined the term ``genocide'' to describe the atrocities that have been visited upon the Jews as well as the Armenians. I have sat with survivors of the genocide, men and women, their numbers dwindling year after year, and heard them recall the destruction of their lives and the loss of all they had known. As children, they were forced from their homes and saw their families beaten, raped, and murdered. They fled across continents and oceans to build lives in this Nation, in Armenia, and around the world. For them and for their descendants, the word ``genocide'' is sacred because it means that the world has not and will not forget. To deny genocide, on the other hand, is profane. It is, in the words of Elie Wiesel, ``a double killing.'' Mr. Speaker, it is always the right time to recognize genocide, but it is particularly so today. For when we see the images of terrified Kurdish families in northern Syria, loading their possessions into cars or carts and fleeing their homes headed to nowhere except from Turkish bombs and marauding militias, how can we truly say the crimes of a century ago are in the past? We cannot. We cannot pick and choose which crimes against humanity are convenient to speak about. We cannot cloak our support of human rights in euphemisms. We cannot be cowed into silence by a foreign power. What we can do, what we must do, Mr. Speaker, is state the facts. We can say that the Ottoman Empire committed this grotesque crime against the Armenians, but their campaign of extermination failed, and that, above all, we will never forget and will never again be silenced. I am grateful for the leadership of Mr. Engel, Mr. McCaul, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), and so many Members on both sides of the aisle who have fought for recognition for decades. I urge every Member of the House to join today in supporting H. Res. 296.

Mr. SCHIFF

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 95, the Homeless Veteran Families Act, which I am proud to cosponsor. I regret that I was unable to cast my vote in support of this legislation, but I am pleased that it passed with strong bipartisan support. The issue of homeless veterans in the greater Los Angeles area is a pressing one, and this legislation is an important step to help address the crisis. Specifically, the bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to pay a partial per diem to the VA's Homeless Grant Per Diem service providers supporting our nation's homeless veterans with children, making sure that veterans and their families receive housing and supportive services. I commend the sponsor of the legislation and hope that it can swiftly be enacted. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 557.

Mr. SCHIFF

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 557.

Mr. SCHIFF

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Castro).

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, with respect to my colleague, the only corruption the President seems to be concerned about is corruption that he is not involved with, and that seems to be an increasingly narrow category. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Carson).

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Speier).

Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, we are here today because, over a month ago, a courageous employee or detailee or contractor within the intelligence community brought to the inspector general a complaint that the inspector general reviewed. He had 14 days to review that complaint. The inspector general found that complaint credible, found that complaint urgent, and found that that complaint should be provided to Congress, as the whistleblower intended. That complaint then went to the Director of National Intelligence, who had 1 week to review it. Then the statute says that complaint shall be provided to the committee--not ``may,'' not ``might,'' not ``if the DOJ doesn't write an opinion,'' not ``if the White House doesn't like it.'' It says ``shall'' transmit to the committee. The reason Congress wrote the statute that way is that, particularly in the intelligence community, we are reliant on whistleblowers. Through the vast majority of our hearings, there are no witnesses. They are not conducted in open session. There are not outside stakeholders who can tell us that what this agency represented or that agency said is not correct. We are reliant on the intelligence community to self-report, and most of the time they do. When they don't, we are completely reliant on whistleblowers. If the whistleblower process doesn't work, if the subject of a complaint by a whistleblower can be held up by the subject of that complaint--that is, if the whistleblower says that the impropriety that they have evidence of was committed by X person, and X person is given the discretion to decide whether Congress ever sees that report--that system is broken. That is certainly not how Congress intended it. Presuming that this complaint involves the conversation that we are now witness to because some readout of that conversation was made public, that whistleblower may have been trying to communicate to Congress that the President of the United States was pressuring a foreign President to manufacture dirt on his political opponent for help in his Presidential campaign and doing so at a time when the President of the United States was withholding military support that we approved on a bipartisan basis. Now we see that readout says that, after the Ukraine President expressed the need for further arms to the United States, our President said: We are doing a lot for Ukraine. We are doing more for Ukraine than other countries. But you know something? There is not much reciprocity here. I have a favor I would like to ask. I want you to investigate my opponent, and I am going to have my Attorney General and my personal lawyer follow up with you. This was the constant theme of the President's request to the President of Ukraine. It wasn't, what are the national security needs of Ukraine? It wasn't, what are the economic needs of Ukraine? It wasn't, what are the separatists doing in Ukraine? It was: This is what I want from you. I have done so much for Ukraine. We have done so much for Ukraine. This is what we want of you. The idea that a complaint with these allegations, if indeed this complaint is about this call, would be withheld from Congress and would be withheld on the basis of an opinion written by the Attorney General, someone who was mentioned in that very conversation, screams of conflict of interest, if not far worse. When we brought this resolution up a month after this complaint was filed, and we brought it up in the Rules Committee last night, the argument was that this is premature. The argument here today is that this is postmature. I guess this is never mature. It is never mature for the Congress to insist that the Director follow the law. Apparently, we need second opinions on whether ``shall'' really means ``shall.'' That is why we are here. If we don't validate the whistleblower process, if we leave the whistleblower unprotected, even as the President suggests that the whistleblower has somehow betrayed his or her country, that system is broken, meaning corruption will not be exposed. The corruption here involves the suborning of our national security to our President's political needs. That is what is at stake here. Madam Speaker, that is why I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley).

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell).

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I am proud to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the Speaker.

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Swalwell).

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Himes), and I ask unanimous consent that he may control that time.

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Welch).

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 576.

Mr. SCHIFF

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of World Narcolepsy Day, which will be observed globally on September 22nd. Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological condition that affects about 1 in 2,000 people by impairing the brain's ability to regulate the sleep- wake cycle. Symptoms of narcolepsy include excessive sleepiness during the day, sudden episodes of muscle paralysis, sleep paralysis, confusing hallucinations, and a disrupted nighttime sleep. Due to an overall lack of public and professional awareness, accurate diagnosis of narcolepsy commonly takes between 8 and 15 years. Experts believe that the majority of people with narcolepsy are currently undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with other conditions such as epilepsy, depression, and schizophrenia. More work is needed to deliver breakthroughs for patients impacted by this debilitating sleep disorder, and we must continue to support the important funding of medical research through the National Institutes of Health and public health programs through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. World Narcolepsy Day serves to raise awareness of the experiences and healthcare needs of the approximately 3 million people living with narcolepsy across the globe, including the 200,000 people with narcolepsy and their loved ones in the United States. By raising awareness of narcolepsy, we can reduce delays in diagnosis, combat stigma and misperceptions, and improve health outcomes for affected individuals. I ask all Members to join me in recognizing September 22nd as World Narcolepsy Day.

Mr. SCHIFF

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Thai Community Development Center upon its 25th Anniversary. The Thai Community Development Center (Thai CDC) was founded in 1994 with the goal of supporting and improving the lives of Thai immigrants and other ethnic communities in the greater Los Angeles area. Thai CDC achieves its mission through a comprehensive community development strategy and initiatives that focus on a variety of issues including access to healthcare and social services, affordable housing, human rights advocacy, neighborhood empowerment, and small business incubation. Thai CDC played an essential role in an eight-year community organizing campaign that raised awareness and led to the creation of Los Angeles' Thai Town in 1999, the first Thai Town in the United States. Through this designation, Thai CDC has been able to engage in transit-oriented development and beautification efforts such as the installation of the Kinarra Lamposts. This strategy to revitalize an otherwise depressed portion of East Hollywood through cultural-based tourism has allowed the Thai American community to prosper and flourish. In 2008, Thai Town was designated a Preserve America neighborhood, a federal designation celebrating cultural heritage and encouraging historic preservation. Throughout the years, Thai CDC has been instrumental in creating events and spaces to foster economic opportunity and bring Angelenos and tourists alike to Thai Town. Thai CDC spearheaded the effort to build and develop the Thai Town Market Place and establish a twice weekly East Hollywood Farmers Market to help incubate small businesses and provide healthy and affordable food options to the neighborhood. In 2004, Thai CDC helped found the Thai New Year's Day Songkran Festival which has since become an annual event attracting hundreds of thousands of attendees. Since its founding, Thai CDC has also been committed to improving the lives of Thai immigrants through culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate social services and programs such as legal aid, financial literacy and counseling, and mediation and dispute resolution. In addition to assisting clients with securing affordable housing, Thai CDC has also built the Halifax Apartments, a multi-family affordable housing development in Hollywood, and the Palm Village Senior Housing in Sun Valley. Thai CDC has also raised awareness of modern-day slavery and human trafficking in the United States through the creation of the Slavery Eradication and Rights Initiative, SERI. I am proud to recognize the Thai Community Development Center for twenty-five years of providing extraordinary service to the Thai American community in the greater Los Angeles area, and I ask all members to join me in congratulating the center for its outstanding achievements.

Mr. SCHIFF

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Assistance League of Los Angeles upon its centennial anniversary. Beginning in the mid-1890s, Assistance League founder Anne Banning and a small group of prominent Los Angeles women initiated a tradition of benevolence and compassion by performing local relief work for those underserved by conventional charities. By 1906, the group's humanitarian efforts extended beyond Southern California to victims of the devastating San Francisco earthquake. Joined by her close friend and co-founder Ada Edwards Laughlin in 1919, Mrs. Banning officially formed the Assistance League of Southern California as part of the first wave of American nonprofits that empowered ordinary citizens to serve their communities through long- term volunteerism. As the organization expanded in the coming decades, Mrs. Banning and Mrs. Laughlin founded the National Assistance League in 1935, which today supports over 120 individual branches with the Assistance League of Los Angeles as the founding chapter. Over the last century, the Assistance League of Los Angeles has responded effectively and compassionately to national, state and local issues, staying true to Mrs. Banning's original vision, acting ``as a friend at any and all times to men, women and children in need of care, guidance and assistance, spiritually, materially and physically.'' The League began by providing food and clothing to families severely impacted by World War I and the Great Depression, before moving on to organize blood drives supporting the Red Cross and holiday gift exchanges for soldiers during World War II. Closer to home, the League formed auxiliaries that tackled a diverse array of issues and broadened the scope of the organization's assistance. Among their many achievements, these auxiliaries organized day nurseries and preschool programs, counseled families in need, provided clothing and supplies to underserved schoolchildren, and raised funds through theater performances, fashion shows, thrift stores, and other efforts. Today, the Assistance League of Los Angeles continues its commitment to helping the Los Angeles community, with eight auxiliaries conducting six significant services. These services include The Preschool Learning Center, Foster Children's Resource Center, Theatre for Children, Hollywood Children's Club, and Operation School Bell support children and families, giving future generations resources they need to succeed and grow. Additionally, the Court Referred Volunteer Center enables adults and youth convicted of infractions, misdemeanors, or felonies to serve the community they have wronged as a more meaningful and beneficial alternative to fines and incarceration. I am honored to recognize the Assistance League of Los Angeles for 100 years of outstanding service to the greater Los Angeles community. I ask all Members to join me in congratulating the Assistance League for its remarkable achievements.

Mr. SCHIFF

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the community of Crescenta Valley, California upon its 135th anniversary. The Crescenta Valley is comprised of the communities of La Canada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, Glendale, Sunland, and Tujunga. For well over a century, this picturesque valley has grown and prospered, and today is a prominent suburb of Los Angeles nestled between the San Gabriel and Verdugo Mountains and the San Rafael Hills. The valley was originally populated by Native Americans before Don Jose Maria Verdugo, namesake of the surrounding hills, was granted 36,000 acres by the Spanish Crown in 1784. Don Verdugo eventually went bankrupt, and the homeless thieves and bandits of the foothills who roved the area shared his namesake and were called ``verdugos.'' Nearly a century later in the early 1880's, Dr. Benjamin Briggs from Indiana moved to Southern California and purchased land in the valley, subdividing and selling 10-acre parcels, with the intent to establish a hospital for lung disease due to the clean, dry air. Dr. Briggs chose the name ``La Crescenta'' for the valley, noticing the crescent shapes of the mountains from the windows of his home. Although Dr. Briggs did not live to realize all his plans, other physicians and health workers followed his lead establishing health clinics and sanitariums; eventually yielding to the establishment of vineyards, orchards, and resort homes. With the advent of an electric trolley line in 1913 which connected Crescenta Valley to Glendale and Los Angeles, small family homes began to evolve, a precursor of the thriving suburban neighborhoods that populate the valley today. In the 1930's, the Crescenta Valley experienced a major calamity when a massive flash flood struck on New Year's Day that took forty lives, and left hundreds homeless. Despite this tragedy, the Crescenta Valley grew rapidly, developing into an established, mainstream suburbia, and the 210 freeway that was built in the 1970's allowed distant communities to connect, incorporating Crescenta Valley even further into the fabric of Los Angeles. The Crescenta Valley has flourished and has found its place as a distinguished part of the greater Los Angeles community. It contains many scientific, cultural, and historical highlights, from the beauty of Descanso Gardens to the world-renowned Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I ask all Members to join me in congratulating the Crescenta Valley upon its 135th anniversary.

Mr. SCHIFF

Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and congratulate the Waldheim family upon the 50th anniversary of J's Maintenance in Glendale, California. For over a half a century, J's Maintenance has provided clients with superb commercial janitorial services and is an outstanding example of a family-owned business that cares about their customers' satisfaction, their staff's wellbeing and their community. Ed and Linda Waldheim bought the small janitorial service company in 1969 and re-built it essentially from the ground up. They have had clients ranging from individual residences to large companies like J.C. Penney and Sears. Their son, Chris Waldheim, currently runs the company. Under Chris's leadership, the company has set a great example by conducting their business in an environmentally friendly way, from installing solar panels on their roof to using green chemicals for their cleaning services. Additionally, J's Maintenance has implemented a recycling program that has saved thousands of pounds of waste from entering our landfills. In addition to their business success, the Waldheim family also exemplifies what it means to be civic leaders. The family supports Relay for Life, which raises funds for the American Cancer Society to conduct research and provide services to patients while in treatment and are avid supporters of the Crescenta Valley and Montrose Chambers of Commerce. J's Maintenance has also invested in the local schools in the Crescenta Valley area by sponsoring activities like Clark Magnet High School's robotics team and fundraising for Crescenta Valley High School's prom. Most notably, however, is Chris's support for and involvement with the YMCA of the Foothills. He served as a board member for several years, holding leadership positions, chaired the Community Support Campaign for three years, and he and his family continuously support the YMCA's events. In 2011, Chris was awarded the Pat Aho Volunteer of the Year Award for his long-lasting involvement with the YMCA. Our community has greatly benefited from the hard work and dedication of the Waldheim family and their business, J's Maintenance. I ask all Members to join with me in congratulating the Waldheim family upon the 50th anniversary of J's Maintenance.