Eric Swalwell

Mr. SWALWELL of California

Mr. SWALWELL of California. That is right. I call it getting lapped, which is we are seeing parents today who are still paying off their student loans, then their kids are going off to college, and now they are doubling down. It has become a family matter. We talked on a Future Forum tour to a mother who showed up to an event that had 200 millennials in Boston. She kind of sheepishly raised her hand and said: I know I am not supposed to be here, but I am here because I am worried about my daughter. She was the first in our family to go to college. We were really excited. We sent her off and we missed her dearly for that first year she was gone. We got used to her being gone in years two, three, and four. We never expected that she would boomerang back home because she couldn't afford to live near where she works. This was at the same time that this mother's own mother was going into a costly assisted living facility. It is a family matter. It is squeezing baby boomers right now because their kids are incurring student loan debt and their parents are taking on costly assisted living. So you are right. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Torres for sharing what is going on in her area. Maybe my other colleague, another one of California's millennial- minded Members down in the L.A. area, Tony Cardenas, what is he hearing as we celebrate a year of being on the road with Future Forum and talking to thousands of young people? What is he hearing about student loan debt or any issues that are important to millennials? Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cardenas).

Mr. SWALWELL of California. Amen. Well said. I think young Californians, in my experience, want us to be as collaborative in solving this problem as they are in charting the innovation economy. You are right. Out of those environments in our UC and Cal State systems and our community colleges, we are creating minds and experiences that are building this new economy. So they look to us and say: Why aren't Democrats and Republicans working together? Right now, I see our caucus is the only one that is offering solutions. I think we are putting our hands out there saying: Work with us, we are ready to talk about this, but you have got to come to the table because Republican and Democratic kids across this country are in financial quicksand and are counting on us. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Cardenas and Mrs. Torres. That will conclude our one-year celebration of Future Forum. We are certainly not looking backwards. We are looking to the future. We have more visits ahead across the country, across California, and, of course, with my colleagues who have participated already. Continue this conversation with us at #FutureForum or, of course, follow @RepSwalwell on Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook. This generation is aspirational and optimistic. It just needs its leaders here in this House and the majority party, I think, to join with the Democrats to put forward solutions that can move our generation forward. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SWALWELL of California

Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Richard ``Dick'' Moore on the occasion of his retirement after 31 years of dedicated service with the Alameda County District Attorney's Office. Dick was born in Dearborn, Michigan and graduated from Michigan State University in 1977, which was the same year he married his high school sweetheart and future lawyer, Kathy. After studying law at Stetson University College, he passed the bar in 1980 and began his career as a prosecutor in Naples, Florida. He successfully tried over 50 felony jury trials during his time working there as an Assistant State Attorney. In 1985, Dick interviewed with future Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court Carol Corrigan and was appointed as a Deputy District Attorney for Alameda County. Dick began with the Alameda County District Attorney's office, first rotating through the Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, and Fremont branches before being assigned to the felony trial team at the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in January 1988. During the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, Dick began building his legacy by successfully prosecuting serious felony cases against some of Alameda County's most violent offenders in multiple high- profile cases. Based on his accomplishments, in 2000 Alameda County District Attorney Thomas J. Orloff appointed Dick as the Felony Trial Team Leader. For the past 16 years Dick has overseen all felony prosecutions and supervised all felony trial deputies. Under the direction of both then-District Attorney Orloff and current Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley, Dick mentored and trained countless Deputy District Attorneys on the importance of being an ethical prosecutor. In fact, Dick even trained both California Attorney General Kamala Harris and I during our time as prosecutors for the office. Dick has earned the respect of judges, defense attorneys, law enforcement, and victims of crime for his sense of justice and fairness. I want to congratulate him on his long and distinguished career and to wish him health and happiness in retirement.

Mr. SWALWELL of California

Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo and I rise today to recognize Jan Tulk, who recently retired after 30 years of dedicated service with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. After years of service at the California Coastal Commission, Jan began as LLNL's first environmental attorney in 1985. In 1994, she was named Laboratory Counsel, managing a staff of 25 and offering advice and representation to senior managers on a wide range of complex legal issues. In 2001, Jan became Associate Director for Administration and Human Resources while also retaining her Laboratory Counsel position for another three years. In this new role she led a staff of about 340 employees fulfilling all of the lab's personnel and administrative functions. In 2007, Jan was named Senior Advisor to the Director and Special Counsel--a member of the senior management team giving advice on a variety of issues while also providing support in environmental law and litigation. In 2012, Jan moved to SLAC to lead the Contract Management Group and the Research Partnership and Commercialization Office. In 2013, she became the lab's Chief of Staff, helping director Dr. Chi-Chang Kao work efficiently with SLAC staff and key stakeholders. She also played a major role in SLAC's transformation over the last few years and, being one of the few female leaders in the Department of Energy national laboratory system, Jan championed diversity and inclusion in the lab. We rise today to recognize Jan Tulk's decades of service to these institutions which push our knowledge and our technology ever forward. She has been an invaluable asset, and we wish her the very best in her well-earned retirement.

Mr. SWALWELL of California

Mr. SWALWELL of California. I thank the gentlewoman from Maryland for yielding to me. Mr. Speaker, on every block in every community across America, people are asking what is the Federal Government doing to keep our community safe from gun violence. They are asking for good reason. Nearly 11,000 Americans were victims of homicide by firearm in 2014. There was nearly one mass shooting for each day of the year in 2015, according to The New York Times. With these stats, are we doing enough? Can we do more? Our motion to recommit answers this question by endeavoring to understand the causes of gun violence and learning how we can curb it. As Members of Congress, we have no higher obligation than to protect those we represent. I urge all Members to live up to that responsibility. Help do all we can to reduce gun violence. Pass this motion to recommit.

Mr. SWALWELL

Mr. SWALWELL. If you look at this chart here, 158 families gave nearly 50 percent of the early 2016 donations. How does that make you feel? If you are a part of the largest generation America has ever known, 80 million people, the most diverse generation America has ever known, how does it make you feel when 158 families are contributing over 50 percent?

Mr. SWALWELL of California

Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, we are here for another Future Forum discussion, and tonight our topic is restoring our democracy, campaign finance, and voting rights. Americans agree, our voting system and our political system is broken, and the integrity of our democracy is at stake. Future Forum is a House Democratic Caucus group consisting of 17 of our youngest members who have gone across the country to 11 cities, now, talking to young people about their democracy and what they care about. We were just in Dallas this past Friday, hosted in the Dallas/Fort Worth area by Congressman Marc Veasey, as well as being joined by Congressman Ruben Gallego of Phoenix. Today we are following up on what we heard in Dallas and what we have heard in many of the cities before it, which is, for all the issues facing millennials, many of them understand that, at the root of the problem is the influence of outside money in politics and access to the ballot box. Joining us tonight is one of the leaders in the House on the issue of money and politics, Congressman John Sarbanes of Maryland. He is the lead sponsor of the Government By the People Act. Also we will be joined by Congressman Kilmer, from the Seattle area, and Delegate Plaskett, from the Virgin Islands. So I am going to first ask Congressman Sarbanes this question, which we have heard from so many millennials across the country: What can we do to restore their faith in their government? I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes).

Mr. SWALWELL

Mr. SWALWELL. I want to again thank my colleague from the Baltimore area in Maryland. I want to ask Congressman Kilmer. The Future Forum went to Seattle. We visited college campuses in the Tacoma and Seattle area. We went to a couple of the big businesses in your area with a millennial workforce. We heard in Tacoma the same thing that we heard when we went to the Manchester, New Hampshire, area and the same thing that we heard in the Dallas area, which is that millennials just think that the system is rigged and there is no reason to participate. The numbers show that. Roughly 22 percent of the eligible millennials showed up to vote in 2014. What are you hearing in the Seattle area about this issue?

Mr. SWALWELL of California

Mr. SWALWELL of California. It is a mind-set.

Mr. SWALWELL

Mr. SWALWELL. Your proposals to have reforms with more teeth are quite popular across the country. I don't know if you knew this, but it has strong support across a cross-section of the electorate. For example, majorities of Democratic voters, 72 percent women and 84 percent men, support small donor reforms. Independent voters, 60 percent of the women polled and 66 percent of the men polled supported it. Among Republican voters, 57 percent of the women supported it, and 53 percent of the men have supported small donor reforms. So I want to ask Congressman Sarbanes--and then I see we are now joined by Congressman Veasey as well--how has money and politics also worked to disenfranchise voters? Because Congressman Veasey and I heard in the Dallas/Fort Worth area about how voting laws that have been put in place have made it actually quite hard to show up and vote. We heard about the purging of people from the voter rolls. What is the connection there when you have outside interests drowning out voices, putting in who they want as policymakers, and then the effect on the rules that go into place as far as how we govern our election?

Mr. SWALWELL. Thank you again, Congressman Sarbanes, for your work. I want to empower young people across America right now, #FutureForum. There is a poll right now: Do you believe Congress should vote to update campaign finance rules? We have had over 100 responses since just posting it. Ninety percent of the people say yes. Congressman Veasey, we were in Dallas on Friday. We talked to hundreds of young people about what issues they care about, especially access to the ballot box. What did you hear in Dallas?

Mr. SWALWELL. I remember that woman. How does she feel about that?

Mr. SWALWELL of California

Mr. SWALWELL of California. That is right. Both sides from my experience acknowledge this problem, but only the majority has the ability to bring this up for a vote on these reforms. I always have the sense that we can all smell the burning and the smoke in this House, but the fire alarm is on this side of the Chamber. Until our colleagues are willing to pull it and bring these issues to this floor, we are going to see millennials continue to think that the system is rigged. It is not going to be any surprise when they show up again at 20 to 25 percent at the polls. In your district in Long Island, young people, what do they think when they see all this money in politics, that they are the largest generation in America, yet 158 families contributed over 50 percent so far in the 2016 Presidential cycle? What do you hear from them as far as whether that makes them want to engage or participate?

Mr. SWALWELL

Mr. SWALWELL. We talked to a lot of innovative young people in Dallas. If I have learned anything about young people--and I remember being up in Manhattan with Congressman Israel and Congresswoman Grace Meng. We were at a district co-workspace. The complaint we often heard there was just about how darn hard it is to get to the polls and why is it on a Tuesday. Why is it so inconvenient. I want to have Delegate Plaskett speak to us on voting rights as well, but in a moment I'm going to have Steve Israel talk to us about weekend elections because people on Twitter right now are asking: Why can't we have votes on the weekend? Delegate Plaskett, can you talk to us a little bit just about voting rights with respect to the Virgin Islands, but also what you are hearing among young people.

Mr. SWALWELL of California

Mr. SWALWELL of California. I thank Delegate Plaskett. That was so eloquently said. On Twitter right now under the #futureforum, people are speaking about their democracy and their right to access the polls. Anna Little- Sana tweeted: Election day should be a Federal holiday! Kel tweeted: Elections on Saturdays sounds like the easiest and least controversial solution. Congressman Israel, what if someone introduced the Weekend Voting Act? Wait, someone has, and he is here.

Mr. SWALWELL of California. Tell us about that.

Mr. SWALWELL of California. I don't have the slightest clue, no. Why do we?

Mr. SWALWELL of California. You wrote a New York Times op-ed on this that was very frank, very passionate, and I think, for a lot of people, very disturbing to hear how much time Members of Congress have to spend fundraising. I just want to ask you as you start your parting tour, which I am very sad to see, but have you met a single colleague in this Chamber on either side--left or right--who told you that they came here because they enjoyed raising money, or that that is the most enjoyable part, or anywhere close to the most enjoyable part of their job?

Mr. SWALWELL of California. I will never forget at one of our townhalls when we were in the Boston area. The students were listing their concerns from climate change and the inaction they have seen there, to student loan debt and how it has them in financial quicksand. To my surprise--and then I ended up seeing this on every campus we visited--this particular student said: But, yeah, you are not going to solve any of that because the system is rigged. As long as that is the perception, which we experience as our own reality, we won't see progress on those issues. We owe it to that generation. It is sad for you to acknowledge that a whole generation is about to give up on us until we change the way that we not only have rules for money and politics, but the way that we govern and represent our constituents, not outside corporate interests. We have a Future Forum event coming up in Denver. It is going to be in April, hosted by Congresswoman DeGette and Congressman Polis. I will give you, Congressman Israel, the last word on this evening's Future Forum focusing on voting rights and campaign financial reform.

Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SWALWELL of California

Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I missed the January 12 vote on Roll Call Number 43, regarding the question of passage of H.R. 757, the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2015. Had I voted, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. SWALWELL of California

Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Texas for his service in the intelligence community, and I appreciate the bipartisan nature of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell).

Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. First, let me express my thanks to Mr. LoBiondo, my colleague on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the chairman of its CIA Subcommittee. I serve as the subcommittee's ranking member. I appreciate the bipartisan way that the chairman of the whole committee and our ranking member, Mr. Schiff, as well as the way that Mr. LoBiondo and I have approached this critical issue of foreign fighter flow. ISIS is one of the greatest threats facing the United States today. Defeating ISIS means that the United States and its allies must be more coordinated in our efforts to scrub ISIS from this Earth and to protect Americans at home than ISIS is in attacking us. This will require a multifaceted approach, involving both foreign policy and the way that our intelligence community tracks ISIS here at home. The threat posed by foreign fighters who travel to and from a foreign zone or a terrorist safe haven and then return to wreak havoc in the West is both real and persistent. The challenge is that, when these foreign fighters go to these countries, if they are not killed on the battlefield, oftentimes they learn even better training and are able to return either to Western Europe or other parts of the world or even the United States with improved training and an increased hatred for innocent people. That leaves us very vulnerable. To help confront this threat, the Tracking Foreign Fighters in Terrorist Safe Havens Act builds on important provisions in the 2016 Intelligence Authorization Act which require a report on foreign fighter flows into and out of Syria and Iraq. This would expand the scope of that report. This bill broadens this requirement by calling on the Director of National Intelligence to report regularly on foreign fighter travel to and from any foreign safe haven or terrorist safe haven. If we do not know who is going to fight in these hot zones, we will have an incomplete picture of our own vulnerabilities. And, these reports have to be specific. They must include, for example, the foreign fighters' countries of origin, the number of foreign fighters who have traveled to or departed each safe haven, and the number of those whose whereabouts remain unknown. Importantly, to the extent a report is submitted in a classified form, it must also include an unclassified summary of the report's contents. I appreciate the chairman agreeing to my request to include this unclassified requirement. Increased transparency and public awareness is very important in the fight against terrorism. These broad, comprehensive reports will allow us to better understand the foreign fighter threat and, in turn, help all of us better protect our national security. Let me again thank Mr. LoBiondo. I urge my colleagues to vote in support of the Tracking Foreign Fighters in Terrorist Safe Havens Act. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff), the ranking member.

Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Carson).