Linda Sánchez

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, today, I stand in strong opposition to this foolish and useless resolution while my Republican colleagues rush to support Big Oil instead of America's seniors, children, and workers. It is not rocket science. We all know that carbon-intensive industries harm our planet. It is also clear from air and water pollution, to floods, to wildfires that lower income communities face the greatest risks tied to climate change. Families of color often have access to the fewest resources to prepare for or recover from extreme weather events and other environmental emergencies. So much for looking out for the costs of the little people. As a mom and as a legislator, I will never stop fighting to help ensure that our Nation's children inherit a greener and healthier world. My Republican colleagues want to choke this planet in carbon dioxide. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in voting against this GOP effort to prop up oil and gas companies who, by the way, make record profits year after year while American families continue to struggle.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I always support good-faith efforts to improve our Nation's tax code. I don't oppose reasonable benefits for the American businesses that drive economic growth and strength. However, I can't support a bill that provides generous tax breaks to large corporations while offering only minimal tax relief for working families. Republicans have refused again and again to enact Democratic tax writers' proposals that would enact a more generous version of the poverty-busting child tax credit. Under President Biden's American Rescue Plan, the child tax credit lifted millions of kids out of poverty and helped their families buy groceries, pay for healthcare, and cover their rent. As a mother and a legislator, I will never stop fighting on behalf of our country's poorest babies and children and the moms, dads, grandparents, and other caregivers who raise them. Unfortunately, I have to vote against this tax scheme because I, for one, recognize that working families matter, or should matter, just as much as businesses.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. We keep hearing about how these centers provide infant formula, and we have a program that helps mothers afford infant formula. It is called WIC. I remind my colleagues that House Republicans' fiscal year 2024 Agriculture appropriations bill would have made benefit cuts and eligibility losses for millions of mothers who rely on WIC. It would have shortchanged WIC by $800 million. So, I find the argument that the centers are so necessary to be specious because that could have been provided under the Agriculture appropriations bill, which my Republican colleagues wanted to cut so dramatically. If they really cared about working families, they wouldn't be asking for those deep and unconscionable cuts to a program that provides infant formula to mothers. As we have seen over the past hour, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are choosing to double down on their war on women. These centers have coerced, deceived, and put women's lives in danger with inaccurate, biased information, but don't just take my word for it. A congressional investigation found that the majority of these clinics surveyed provided false information about abortion. The American Medical Association has called these centers unethical because of the gross disinformation that they push on vulnerable women. These centers are not regulated by State's consumer protection statutes which govern the practice of medicine. Republicans have proven they have no interest in amending this bill to actually protect pregnant women seeking care from these facilities. My Ways and Means Republican colleagues voted against ensuring these facilities provide medically accurate information. Why are they so afraid to provide women with medically accurate information? My Republican colleagues voted against prohibiting these facilities from providing biased reproductive health information or counseling. Let me be very clear. Democrats have fought, and we continue to fight, for comprehensive equitable access to reproductive healthcare for women. We passed the Women's Health Protection Act twice. We passed the right to contraception. The American people have been very clear about supporting access to reproductive healthcare. Democrats have proven that we stand with them, and this bill that the Republicans have put on the floor today once again shows that my Republican colleagues are willing to discard pregnant women to appease their extremist anti-choice rightwing base. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Kansas (Ms. Davids).

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Oregon.

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis).

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett), my colleague on the Ways and Means Committee.

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are insulted by the issues that we are raising because I have a brief here in front of me from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists which talks about the fact that these pregnancy crisis centers use digital marketing tactics to target people seeking information about abortion care. According to their studies, 71 percent of these centers use deceptive means, such as spreading thoroughly debunked misinformation, and 38 percent of them do not clearly state on their home page that they don't provide abortion care. If you are mad at us for raising these points, talk to the College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, because they have done an in-depth, comprehensive study to talk about the repeated misinformation that these centers give out to women who are in crisis. The deceptive information that they give to them puts these women's lives at risk. If you are so pro-life, why do you not care about the life of the mother? Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Lois Frankel).

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I will tell my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that unlike these so-called pregnancy centers, Planned Parenthood actually gives women factually and scientifically accurate information and the full range of choices, while the pregnancy centers have a clear agenda and only one point of view. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore), a champion for women everywhere.

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. McClellan), my esteemed colleague.

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I will point out that one of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle mentioned some violence, and I will talk about the violence that happens at abortion provider clinics. They have been compiling statistics on instances of violence and disruption against abortion providers for more than 40 years, and there is definite uptick in the amount of clinic invasions, obstructions, blockades, targeted mail, and harassing phone calls. In recent years, we have seen incidents of violence with devastating impacts. For example, in November 2015, three people were murdered and nine injured when Robert Dear brought an assault-style rifle to a Planned Parenthood healthcare center in Colorado Springs and opened fire. A gunman also attacked a Planned Parenthood clinic in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the early hours of January 22, 2021. In December 2021, the same clinic was burned to the ground by arsonists. If you want to talk about incidents of violence, let's talk about the onslaught of violent attacks that abortion providers have had to deal with for over the past 40 years. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu), my colleague on the Ways and Means Committee and a champion for women's rights.

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today, the majority is pushing yet another extreme anti- choice bill just in time for the big antiwoman rally in Washington this weekend. Rather than helping hardworking American families, Republicans are working to divert Federal funds from needy children in order to serve their own extremist agenda that is out of step with the majority of Americans. Republicans are attempting to funnel more Federal funds into dangerous anti-abortion facilities, the so-called pregnancy centers. The other side doesn't even dispute that these centers have a specific agenda: to do everything they can within their power to coerce women into doing what the center thinks is best for the women, not what is in the best interest of the mother. These so-called crisis pregnancy centers provide deceptive and inaccurate information to pregnant women. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program is intended to help low-income women and families, not to reduce abortions. This funding was not intended to bankroll deceptive anti-abortion centers that misrepresent themselves as healthcare facilities. These facilities often delay access to care, and they use emotional manipulation to divert access to care from licensed medical professionals. The American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and even the National Institutes of Health have all issued reports citing numerous ethical and medical concerns with these so-called centers. These facilities are unregulated. They have no legal obligation to provide pregnant people with accurate information. They are not subject to HIPAA protections, nor are they required by law to maintain client confidentiality. In many cases, they don't even have licensed medical professionals on staff. One woman who sought out care at a Florida women's health center in Jacksonville was told that having an abortion would cause breast cancer. This is patently false. Another was advised to relax at the beach after being incorrectly informed she was carrying an ectopic pregnancy. These facilities are unsafe. Multiple physician organizations have stated that they are unethical. The bottom line is that anti-abortion clinics should not receive Federal dollars to continue spreading false information to low-income, often minority, women seeking comprehensive, nonjudgmental fact- and science-based reproductive healthcare. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I would just love to point out to anybody who cares for real facts a 2006 congressional report and investigation that found false and misleading health information provided by federally funded pregnancy resource centers. That will give you an accurate picture of just what goes on behind those doors. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bonamici).

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman John Larson for being the chief advocate for reforming our Social Security system. It is high time that Congress acted to preserve those benefits for people who have earned those benefits by paying into the system over their working lives. I want to touch on another issue that concerns me with respect to Social Security, and that is that we see an increasing number of people who rely on those benefits. Since 2010, the number of individuals who rely on Social Security has increased over 21 percent. Over that same period of time, Social Security's administrative funding for basic operations has fallen by 17 percent after you account for inflation. Those shortages--that is, more people needing services but the budget being cut--have caused a significant delay across Social Security for our most vulnerable populations, including those who are awaiting disability benefits. I have a constituent from my district who has been working with my casework team in my district office for more than a year and a half. This individual had a stroke and applied for disability benefits with Social Security in August 2022 after becoming paralyzed. He was denied those benefits in June 2023. He appealed his decision that same month and didn't receive a response from Social Security until November of 2023, stating that his application needed additional review. After 17 months without any form of income, his case was finally approved just this week. Americans should not have to wait this long to see these necessary earned benefits. Instead of working with Democrats to ensure that Social Security has a better capability to serve constituents like that one, my Republican colleagues proposed devastating cuts to Social Security. Additional cuts to an agency that is already struggling with a significant backlog would be catastrophic for seniors and individuals with disabilities. After they do these budget cuts, then my Republican colleagues want to turn around and blame the staff at the Social Security Administration for not being able to handle the backlog. Unfortunately, the story that I told about my constituent is not unique. There are countless Americans who suffer from disabilities and are unable to get their benefits in a timely manner. These Americans deserve better. I again thank my colleague, Mr. Larson, for leading the charge on reforming the system, on holding up our end of the bargain to people who have paid into the system over their entire working lives.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 65th birthday of the city of Walnut, California. On January 20, 2024, the city of Walnut celebrates 65 years since its incorporation. A longtime ranching community, the Walnut area was primarily used for cattle and sheep grazing, as well as growing wheat, grapes, and fruit trees. Walnut has since grown into a diverse, successful city that I am proud to represent as part of California's 38th Congressional District. Walnut is beloved for its historic charm and traditions such as the Walnut Family Festival and Winter Jam. From the iconic windmill in Suzanne Park to the wildlife sanctuary at Mt. SAC to the beautiful groves of walnut trees to its wonderful senior center, the city of Walnut has much to offer residents and visitors alike. I wish a happy birthday to the city of Walnut.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 65th anniversary of the City of Walnut. Walnut is beloved for its historic charm and traditions such as the Walnut Family Festival and Winter Jam. On January 20, 2024, the City of Walnut celebrates 65 years since its incorporation. A long-time ranching community, the Walnut area was primarily used for cattle and sheep grazing as well as growing wheat, grapes, and fruit trees. Walnut has since grown into a diverse, successful city that I am proud to represent as part of California's 38th congressional district. From the iconic windmill in Suzanne Park to the wildlife sanctuary at Mt. SAC to the beautiful groves of walnut trees to its wonderful Senior Center, the City of Walnut has much to offer residents and visitors alike. Happy Birthday, City of Walnut.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Ms. Rosalynn Alba Cobarrubias. A City of Walnut native who worked tirelessly to become a media entrepreneur and music promoter, Rosalynn's first music industry position was as a radio DJ at KSAK-FM 90.1, the campus radio station of Mt. San Antonio College. Rosalynn played a key role in developing the MySpace Music platform, serving as its marketing head and leading artist relations and driving connections between artists and their fans. Her work ethic was enhanced by her creativity and innovation. Rosalynn produced legendary live events, collaborating with iconic artists like Rihanna, Bruno Mars, Miguel, and John Legend. She was also known for using her talent and resources to spread a wealth of knowledge--not just to upcoming artists, but to her community at large. Rosalynn was a strong advocate for Filipino American artists, helping them find success in the music industry. She also supported Filipino American heritage nights at Dodgers games. A long-time advocate for youth empowerment even beyond Southern California, Rosalynn helped build basketball courts across the Philippines. Rosalynn's passion for music and dedication to her Filipino heritage and community should be celebrated. Mr. Speaker and distinguished colleagues, please join me in honoring the life of Rosalynn Alba Cobarrubias. May God bless her and ease her family's pain as they mourn for their loss.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleagues on another successful Congressional Baseball Game. Sadly, my Democrats were bested this year, but I will tell you this: This year was a rebuilding year for us, and just look at the level of talent we displayed this year.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to point out just one of the very troubling and extreme amendments in the NDAA, specifically Mr. Green's amendment which would effectively cut all Federal Government support to filmmakers who distribute films in China. This amendment takes a page right out of 1950s McCarthyism, and it will devastate the film industry. It requires the DOD to create a blacklist of studios that often, by necessity, have made changes to films in anticipation of distribution in China. It would decide, without any evidence necessary, to withhold assistance for filmmakers who edit sexual or violent scenes to make films more appropriate for children. Further, it would ensure that these American filmmakers can no longer film on U.S. public lands or access resources paid for by American taxpayers. Filmmaking is a First Amendment right, and this amendment attacks that right by allowing the DOD to censor content and editorial viewpoints of American films. The Green amendment could also push film production overseas. In my home State of California, this amendment would devastate an industry that brings in $226 billion alone in jobs and economic activities. Sadly, this amendment is just one of many dangerous and extreme MAGA amendments attached to what has been a historically bipartisan bill. This amendment would hurt American industries and workers, and it does not belong in the NDAA.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Thank you for yielding me the time, both Mr. Payne and Mr. Goodlatte, and good morning to everyone. What a pleasure it is to be here and to speak to you on one of our greatest programs, the Congress to Campus program. As Bob mentioned, the program continues to grow and to reach wider audiences. It is great because we get to educate and to inform our youth. Thanks to a grant from The Park Foundation these past 2 years, we have actively reached out to minority-serving institutions, such as historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, women's colleges, community colleges, Tribal colleges, and service academies. The Park Foundation is a nonprofit, and it is dedicated to advancing a more just, equitable, and sustainable society and environment, both nationally and in our local communities. They are committed to challenging the powers that threaten an independent media, a robust democracy, and the future of the planet. The Park Foundation helps with funding, specifically for these minority-serving institutions, to put the program on their campus. This year, we had 32 schools reach out to FMC to bring the program to their institutions. Seven of those were at these minority-serving institutions. The past spring, the number was four, and the fall before that, the number was three. The word is getting out about our Congress to Campus, and it is spreading, and I think it is making a difference. Most of us would agree that some students, or at least where I come from, I am a Latina, they don't get the opportunity to connect with current or former Members of Congress. Some don't even know what it is, quite frankly, and they want to be engaged. They want to be mentored, especially once they find out about what we are all doing here. The program allows them to have one-on-one experiences, to inspire them, to show them the path that leads to public service. A new vision and a possible extension of our current program is an idea that is called the Congressional pipeline. FMC will expand and build upon the current program we have by encouraging the next generation of public servants. That is what we are really about, getting people excited about doing what we have done or being a staffer here or being in our Federal agencies. We want them to want to be public servants and demonstrating how respectful debate and a focus on solutions is really the root of our American democracy. It is also going to provide unparalleled resources and opportunities to college students who participate in our Congress to Campus program and then want to take additional steps to become a public servant. We envision accomplishing these goals by bringing some of these students who have experienced our program, for example, at an HBCU or an Hispanic-serving institution to Washington, D.C., for the total Washington experience. The pipeline will do five things: It will provide equal access to opportunities for a wide range of students, including those students, like myself, who would have never had an opportunity to visit here or our district offices. It will provide Congress to Campus students with information and resources on pursuing public service career paths, both in person and virtually. It will facilitate opportunities for students to meet with individuals currently serving in Congress, and also the former Members because we are still important, including our staff, both in Washington and in the district offices. It will create a one-semester fellowship for four and six students, which would include a semester internship at the FMC office here in downtown Washington, D.C.; scheduling meetings each week with current and former Members and staff and ambassadors and embassy staff here in D.C. on how to pursue the careers in public service; of course, free time on weekends so they can go and see everything that you Irish leaders all want to go and see. It will establish a network of Congress to Campus grads and FMC fellows who, in turn, will help other students who are interested in following in their footsteps by becoming speakers, reaching out in their own home districts, et cetera, so that we can continue to move people into public service. We ask you to be a part of our Congress to Campus program, to help us to identify students, to help students seek bipartisanship and civility, that they are still alive and thriving and that this is the way forward, especially during a time that has been a difficult time for our Nation. One big testament to the program is our before and after surveys. I don't know about before, but 100 percent--imagine that--100 percent of students on their post-event survey say that their mind has actually changed for the better about Congress. The 76 percent--and I don't know what happened to the other 24, but 76 percent say they want the Congress to Campus program to come back to their school again. I love this program. I love it because it makes me younger, right? When you are interacting with the young people, it makes you feel young. You hear their voices, their ideas. You hear their dreams about a better tomorrow. It makes me feel better about what kind of world we are leaving for our kids. They inform me. They inspire me. I see them, their minds clicking, thinking about how they can shape the world. Many of the students come up to me afterward and they say: How do I get involved in politics? And I hand them my card, and I say: Let's keep in touch; and we do. Many of them are working in their local areas now to become politicians, and they are not afraid of it. It is not a bad thing to be a politician. If you want to get involved, please contact Patricia Ochs, our Congress to Campus program manager. L.S., let me thank you again and echo what Bob said earlier about your exceptional leadership at FMC, and thank you for the opportunity. I really think it is a godsend to be able to participate in the Congress to Campus program. Thank you also for giving me the opportunity to report on the program.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to condemn the Azerbaijani Government's blockade of Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Artsakh's Armenian population to the world. Today marks the 52nd day of the blockade. My district is home to one of the first Armenian communities in southern California and was formed by survivors of the Armenian genocide. Now, in the face of Azerbaijan's aggression, many of my constituents fear a second genocide. Last week, I spoke with a constituent who was stuck behind the blockade and who reported a dire situation: Over 100,000 Armenians have been denied access to food, fuel, and medicine, and the region has been left without heat or power this winter. If this continues, I fear a humanitarian catastrophe. We must make it clear to Azerbaijan that imposing its will on the Armenian people by force is unacceptable. I call on the administration to ensure that aid reaches the people of Artsakh. Today, my thoughts are with those suffering under these inhumane conditions, and I reaffirm my commitment to ensuring that Azerbaijan is held accountable for its aggression against the Armenian people.

Ms. SANCHEZ

Ms. SANCHEZ. Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise to honor the life of the late Henry Perez Huerta. Henry was one of the most important voices in the labor movement in California. He led an incredible life protecting the rights of working families in Southern and Northern California and inspired other leaders to follow in his footsteps. Henry was a child of the farm worker movement. At 16, Henry watched his father organize a massive rally in Gonzales, California where Cesar Chavez spoke to farmworkers. From that moment, Henry was inspired to live a life where he fought for workers. Outraged by the disenfranchisement of farmworker families like his own, Henry became the youngest deputy registrar in the state of California. He registered countless farm workers to vote and make their voices heard. After graduating from the University of Oregon, where Henry was one of the very few Mexican-Americans on campus, he worked for the State of California's Department of Industrial Relations for 31 years. His work was so impactful to so many--often acting as a one-person investigation team for the Labor Commission. Thinking of his own family's experience, Henry felt a deep sense of fulfillment helping farm workers receive wages they were unfairly denied. While working in San Francisco, Henry quickly ascended to Senior Deputy Labor Commissioner, investigating the workplace conditions of sweat shops, agricultural companies, car washes and construction sites. Henry always understood the importance of empowering workers, which led him to lead the charge in unionizing carwash workers in LA. Henry and his wife, Martha, eventually settled down in Whittier, California, but Henry's passion for political change and empowering working families never faded. In his final months of life, Henry continued to register voters, and volunteer countless hours to get out the vote. As a result of his tireless activism, Henry was honored by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party as ``Democrat of the Year.'' Henry was such a great activist not just because of the time he spent on work, but also the time he invested in mentorship, friendship, and guidance to local leaders. I am proud to have called Henry a friend and a role model. Henry Huerta left us too soon. His absence is greatly felt by my community, but his legacy as a voice for the disenfranchised will be remembered for generations. I join Henry's wife, Martha, his 2 children, Enrique Jr., and Zenaida, and all his family and friends in celebrating the difference he made in our community through a full and meaningful life.