Mary Scanlon

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, we, of course, share the concern of our colleagues from the other side of the aisle that an incident like this never happens again. That is why we are urging the Vice President to invoke the 25th Amendment, because of the clear and present danger of continued violence under this administration. While I believe there will be a time to talk about bipartisan efforts to have an investigation through this House, this is not the moment for it. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Matsui), a distinguished former member of the Rules Committee.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Garamendi).

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman from Texas an additional 30 seconds.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to the objection.

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I started this day disheartened that our colleagues were going to drag us through this cynical political charade of objecting to duly certified electoral college votes, but I was ready and eager to defend Pennsylvania's elections and the will of Pennsylvania's voters. Never did I expect to be answering calls from family and friends concerned for my safety or to have to barricade myself in an office. But most important of all, never did I expect to see our Capitol overrun by armed insurrectionists intent on disrupting our government at the urging of the President. What happened here today has made me heart-sick for our country, but it only strengthens my resolve to uphold the rule of law and to protect the decision of Pennsylvania's voters. Earlier this week, we raised our hands and swore an oath to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States. But, today, those who are blocking the counting of electors from Pennsylvania are showing that their allegiance lies not to the Constitution or to their constituents, and many would argue not even to the Republican Party, but to their own political fortunes and the outgoing President. Pennsylvania's voters, not Members of Congress, are tasked with choosing Pennsylvania's Presidential electors, and particularly not congressmen from other States. The people have spoken, and Pennsylvania certified our electors. We must respect our oath here by rejecting this unfounded objection to Pennsylvania's electoral votes, and not substitute Congress' judgment for that of the people of Pennsylvania. Legal challenges to elections are serious matters, and that is why there is a place to consider those challenges: In courtrooms before impartial judges. And Pennsylvania's legal process has worked. The pseudo-legal arguments that are being raised by the objectors here today are not new. Over the past 2 months, the President and his allies have filed more than 20 lawsuits to challenge the Pennsylvania election. Those challenges have been rejected in Federal courts, State courts, appellate courts, and the United States Supreme Court. Challenges have been rejected by judges who are registered Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and who have been appointed by Democratic and Republican Presidents. And why did they lose all those cases? As Third Circuit Judge Bibas, a Trump appointee, wrote, ``Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.'' What the Court said points to an important distinction about when and how claims of election misconduct are made. It is easy to make wild claims of election fraud on cable television or Twitter, but those claims are not facts. And while there may be no immediate consequences for misleading the public with such statements, there is certainly a penalty for misleading the courts. A lawyer faces fines, jail, and loss of his or her license for making frivolous or false claims. The lawyers for the Trump campaign never alleged widespread fraud or illegal voting had impacted Pennsylvania's elections because those claims are false. When our colleagues indulge in this political theatre and endorse fringe conspiracy theories, they may think there are no consequences because they know that this time the majorities of the House and Senate will overrule them. But as the entire world saw today, their baseless claims of election fraud do have consequences. They undermine faith and respect for our elections and our government. They chip away at the foundation of our constitutional Republic and they take a sledgehammer to the peaceful transfer of power. It is our job to respect the rule of law and reject this political charade. Finally, I want to offer my deepest respect to our Republican colleagues in both the House and the Senate who have withstood intense political pressure, and today honor their oath in the rule of law by rejecting these unfounded objections.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. In the 2 years that I have been here, every motion to recommit has been a poison pill, a gimmick designed to tank a bill or sow division between Members of Congress and their constituents. Despite high-flung rhetoric here today, not once have I seen the MTR used to make legislation better. In fact, on those occasions when it prevailed, our colleagues voted against the underlying bill. Since this legislative tool has not been used in good faith, it needs to be reformed. But I also wish to speak in favor of the efforts that have been made to use gender-neutral language in the rules. As a female Member of Congress and a member of last term's Select Committee to Modernize Congress, I applaud the efforts to drag the rules package into the 21st century and make it more inclusive, as well as to make it streamlined. The text changes have allowed us to make the rules package more concise, and that is a good thing.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I rise in support today of eviction relief, which we expect to see included in the COVID package we vote on soon. While we need to do more, this bill provides a meaningful start to addressing the eviction crisis caused by the pandemic. In Pennsylvania alone, nearly one-quarter million households are behind on their rent and facing the real threat of eviction. This bill will allow, as an authorized administrative expense, funds to be sent to civil legal aid organizations to help keep people in their homes. Under this crucial legislation, legal aid organizations, including faith-based groups, can represent tenants in eviction cases, improve access to utilities, and ensure housing conditions meet necessary standards. Rental assistance alone will not help the thousands of people facing eviction; families often need access to legal advice to protect their rights. Legal counsel should not be a privilege saved for the wealthiest in our country. It is a basic necessity for navigating the difficult problems facing Americans who are on the bottom rungs of our economy. I will continue advocating for the families hardest hit by the COVID pandemic, and I thank my colleagues for their hard work on this legislation.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, over the last 10 months, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on our communities: from our frontline heroes working around the clock to families who have gone hungry, to the millions who have lost their jobs, and, heartbreakingly, the over 300,000 who have lost their lives. While many of us believe that the Federal Government can and still should do much more to alleviate the impact of the pandemic, we all can be inspired by the compassion, innovation, and resilience of the people in our communities who have stepped up to serve and to try to fill the needs laid bare by this crisis. They are our local heroes. A few weeks ago, my office launched a local heroes initiative to showcase the countless people in Pennsylvania's Fifth Congressional District who have gone above and beyond to help those in need throughout this crisis. In just the first few days, we received over 100 submissions, and it has grown since then. From nurses on our front lines to children organizing food drives, we were overwhelmed by the stories of resilience, ingenuity, and absolute determination by members of our community whose stories we don't hear enough. So, today, I want to share a few of their stories. I am talking about people like Nicole, an emergency manager, who is now serving our community by running two emergency rooms due to the overwhelming number of COVID-19 cases. Aunt Nee Nee, as she is known to her beloved nieces and nephews, has only been able to see her family for limited amounts of time, if at all, since the pandemic started. People like Jillian, a mom of three, who regularly works 15-hour shifts in the ER, then comes home, disposes of her scrubs in a bin so she can hug her kids and help them do their schoolwork. She is a real- life superhero. Young people like Emily, just 14 years old, who, when she realized that some children in our community would be without holiday gifts this year, organized a toy drive, contributing her babysitting money and recruiting her younger brother and sisters to help make cards and wrap the gifts. People like Michelle, a nonprofit leader, who has ensured that our LGBTQ communities are not left behind during this crisis; working to secure housing, food, and medications for immunocompromised community members. Teachers like Jimmy, from Upper Darby, who knows how hard this transition has been for both students and teachers. So he has gone above and beyond to share acts of kindness, like dropping off doughnuts for his fellow teachers or helping students get help to obtain the technology they need for virtual learning. People like Ala Stanford and the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, who organized free COVID testing for our most at-risk communities when it became apparent that they could not otherwise obtain testing. County employees, like Ed and Gayle, who have reinvented and organized dozens of drive-thru food drives to help feed our neighbors and keep the donors safe. These local heroes should inspire all of us, no matter what our party, to fight for more relief that the American people deserve. Every day we delay getting relief to them means more businesses go under, people get sicker, more Americans die, and families are stretched even thinner financially. We have got to get this done. The American people cannot wait.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, the assistance provided by this bill will help bring peace of mind to the families of missing persons by taking meaningful steps to improve the identification of remains. I applaud the bipartisan and bicameral support for this bill. I thank Representatives Gonzalez and Hurd for their efforts in the House, as well as Senators Cornyn and Harris for championing the bill in the Senate. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this bill today, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gonzalez).

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2174) to expand the grants authorized under Jennifer's Law and Kristen's Act to include processing of unidentified remains, resolving missing persons cases, and for other purposes, as amended.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 2174, the Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act, a bipartisan measure aimed at assisting State and local governments to locate missing people and identify human remains. This bill not only authorizes grant funding to States and localities for such purposes, but it also improves the Federal Government's data collection procedures and expands Customs and Border Protection's response to the tragic rise in migrant deaths along our southern border. These changes bring much-needed financial relief to local jurisdictions nationwide and provide a modicum of dignity and consolation to the families of those who have perished. Sadly, there is a pressing need for this legislation. The process by which States and localities and law enforcement agencies must tackle these issues exacts a financial and emotional toll. When remains are found, their identification by State and local law enforcement and medical examiners, often supported by crime and forensic laboratories, provides decedents and their survivors with dignity and respect. But bringing closure to these families is costly. State and local entities must transport, preserve the remains, perform autopsies, attempt DNA testing, and conduct forensic examinations. These tasks can be particularly burdensome on small jurisdictions that often have to rely on State support to carry out these complex tasks. That is why the grant program that this bill authorizes is so important. While the need for this support is greatest along our southern border, the grant funds authorized by S. 2174 will support jurisdictions nationwide to carry on this critical work. S. 2174 also contains a number of provisions that will strengthen the Federal Government's efforts to identify missing and unidentified people. Notably, the bill would create a bridge between States and localities and a Federal database to help match reports of missing people with unidentified remains. Importantly, the bill authorizes Customs and Border Protection to install up to 170 self-powering cellular relay rescue beacons along the southern border that will help stranded migrants call for help should they find themselves injured or in need of emergency services. A broad coalition of stakeholders have endorsed S. 2174, including the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies; the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC; and the Christian Life Commission. This broad swath of support speaks to the need for the legislation and bolsters the bipartisan nature of the bill. I want to thank Representative Vicente Gonzalez for his leadership on this issue and his tireless work on behalf of his House companion to this bill. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, it has been 257 days since the first major COVID relief package was signed into law--257 days. In that time period, COVID cases in the U.S. have skyrocketed, and we have lost almost 290,000 Americans. The devastation this virus has wrought on our families, our communities, and our economy is enormous. But it would have been so much worse if we had not provided that early relief to our families, our small businesses, and workers impacted by the spring surge. And economists are clear that we need to provide more direct relief in order to buoy the economy, much less to keep people safe. The relief that we are seeking, that the American people are seeking is not a handout. It is a lifeline. It is critical to get relief in the hands of families, small businesses, frontline workers, and local governments so we can get the virus under control. But, also, so we can get the country back to work once we do so. Mr. Speaker, time is of the essence. Unemployment is running out, small businesses--and especially, restaurants--are closing. Families are facing eviction and foreclosure. Mr. Speaker, fighting this pandemic has been hard enough on the American people. Getting them the relief they need to stay safe and healthy shouldn't be.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, this week, December's rent and mortgage payments came due for millions of Americans, marking another gut- wrenching deadline for families who have been forced to make the impossible decision between putting food on the table or keeping a roof overhead. We have been asking for months for the Senate to take up one of the relief packages that the House has passed and sent for consideration or for the Senate to come up with its own COVID relief proposal. While there has finally been some movement this week, it is way overdue. My constituents cannot wait any longer. As the coronavirus surges yet again in my region, I hear every single day from folks who have exhausted every resource to scrape by, but they cannot make ends meet without more relief. These are folks like Denise from Linwood. Last spring, she and her husband both lost their jobs in the hospitality industry. They have two kids at home learning virtually. Now they are faced with the expiration of unemployment benefits, and they fear eviction come January. Ann from Wayne is a schoolteacher who is trying to get a COVID test so she can take care of her elderly mother and do her job, but she has had to jump through hoop after hoop because we still lack a national testing strategy. My constituents and our local officials are doing everything in their power to feed their families and stay safe. It is past time that the Federal Government does the same. America is waiting.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, the distinguished member of the Committee on Rules from Georgia, I, too, hope that the renewed interest in both Houses in passing COVID relief yields fruit sooner rather than later. It does require that the Senate make it a priority, and I have been advised that the Senate's priority this afternoon once again is confirming another conservative judge. So we will both have to hold out hope as we move forward. Mr. Speaker, I am here today, pleased to rise in support of today's rule and the underlying legislation, the MORE Act. It becomes clearer by the day that the time is long overdue for the Federal Government to bring its marijuana policy into the 21st century. The current approach has failed our youth, has failed to stem more harmful drug usage, and, most notably, has failed communities of color across the United States. That is because, when it comes to marijuana, there are two justice systems in the United States: a gentler, more understanding system mostly available to White Americans, and a punitive, less-forgiving system primarily enforced against Black and Brown Americans. Mr. Speaker, this isn't justice. This is not who we must be as a nation. Thousands of people, mostly younger Black and Brown men, remain incarcerated, while a growing number of States, including Pennsylvania, have decriminalized and legalized marijuana for medicinal and recreational use. The question is no longer whether we are living in a world if we will legalize cannabis. States across the country are leading the way and demonstrating how to safely, responsibly, and effectively regulate cannabis for medicinal and recreational use. Mr. Speaker, the MORE Act will decriminalize marijuana by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act and apply retroactively to prior and pending marijuana-related convictions. The bill will also require Federal courts to expunge prior convictions and require courts to consider resentencing hearings for those still under supervision. The MORE Act will not fix all of the injustices caused by the obsolete and ineffective approach of the Federal Government towards cannabis, but it is a good and long-overdue start. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to side with justice and side with common sense to support this rule and the underlying legislation.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, today, I rise to recognize Transgender Day of Remembrance and honor the memories of far too many transgender or gender-nonconforming people, at least 36 of whom were lost this year to fatal violence, the majority of whom were Black and Latinx transgender women. I want to take a moment to lift up the names and stories of a few of the Black transgender women who faced violence this year in the city of Philadelphia to honor their memory, because when we fail to acknowledge this issue, we cannot begin to address it. Dominique ``Rem'mie'' Fells was murdered on July 9. A friend described her as a beautiful and unique soul. We are heartened by the fact that an arrest in her murder has finally occurred. Tracy ``Mia'' Green was murdered on September 28. Her friends and family shared how ``her smile was so perfect and so contagious'' and how she always made people laugh. Kendall Stephens was brutally attacked in her own home on August 24. As she was beaten, her attackers yelled transphobic slurs and said they would ``come back to finish the job.'' Thankfully, Kendall survived the assault and dedicates her work to healing the transgender community in Philadelphia. This violence is motivated by anti-transgender bigotry, and the intersections of employment, housing, and other forms of discrimination put too many transgender people, particularly transgender women of color, at risk of violence. This Transgender Day of Remembrance, we honor those lost, honor their survivors. As an ally, I rededicate myself to working for change to protect this community from discrimination and violence.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for arranging this Special Order hour. I stand before you today frustrated by the lack of Federal relief as COVID-19 surges across the country. With each day that we don't have relief for families, businesses, our frontline workers, and the State and local governments that have borne the brunt of the pandemic response, its impact grows that much more disastrous--and disproportionately so for our communities of color. More than a quarter of my constituents are Black, and we now know that Black individuals are almost three times as likely to become infected with COVID-19 as White individuals and twice as likely to die of the virus. So over the past 9 months my district has seen families and neighborhoods devastated by this virus. My district is also home to our Nation's poorest and hungriest major city. When you live paycheck to paycheck, one missed shift or even missing an hour's worth of work forces families to make impossible decisions between putting food on the table or keeping a roof overhead, and it makes quarantining impossible. For the most part these are not new challenges caused by COVID-19, these are challenges that have been plaguing our most marginalized communities and communities of color for decades. But the pandemic has exacerbated and laid bare these inequities for all who care enough to see. It is why we must provide relief to help our communities survive the pandemic and commit to closing the gaps preexisting the pandemic that have been holding families back for far too long. Our families are in crisis. They need stimulus checks to pay their rent and mortgages. They need access to free testing to protect themselves and their families. They also need food and childcare and access to equitable education, housing, healthcare, and wages. This pandemic has shown us there is a roadmap to improving the lives of millions of Americans, especially our communities of color, but we must have the courage to follow it.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, when the news of Justice Ginsburg's passing broke, the first text I received was from my daughter, quickly followed by messages from female friends and family from every phase of my life. The immediate outpouring of tributes was a natural and authentic testament to the Justice's outsized impact on American women over the last half century. Justice Ginsburg carried the torch for us for justice, for women's rights, and, even as tiny and soft-spoken as she was, as a voice for the voiceless. She broke barriers; she changed the status quo; and she never stopped pushing our country to become a more perfect Union. In so doing, she became a source of intergenerational inspiration and a pop culture icon. But that intergenerational inspiration was a two- way street. I am reminded of one of the last times I heard her speak. After making her remarks, a college student asked the Justice: What gives you hope? The Justice said: What gives me hope is the number of women running for office and the activism of younger generations, because from what I have seen, they will be the ones to effect change. We must have the courage to pass on a better nation to our children and our grandchildren. Justice Ginsburg's words are a reminder, as we serve the people's House, as we manage this challenging time, as we prepare to vote in this election, that what each of us does matters and what we don't do matters. May we never stop learning from Justice Ginsburg, and may her memory be a blessing to our country.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I do not yield.

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman from Texas an additional 30 seconds.

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Wow, that was hard to follow. Just to take a couple pieces there. There is no allegation here of mass hysterectomies. What there are allegations of, which have been strengthened over the intervening 2 weeks, are allegations that numerous women were subjected to inappropriate medical care. And their medical records, as we begin to receive them, are starting to confirm that there were a variety of procedures that were committed upon these people without their consent, including total and partial sterilization, but a range of procedures. You know, Madam Speaker and I both come from Pennsylvania. We have seen this kind of corruption before in our prison systems, where you have a private prison system that gets involved in providing care--in Pennsylvania, it was called the ``kids for cash'' scandal, where public officials were being given kickbacks for interning children. Now, is that what is going on here? The investigation may substantiate that or it may not, but there is a lot that needs to be dug into: the appropriateness of the medical care, whether someone was profiting off what happened there, the humanity of what happened to these women. All of that needs to be looked into. That is what the resolution is asking for, that this be investigated, because the allegations are so serious, and everything we have seen so far has supported them. Now, the IG is moving to investigate, and Congress has started to investigate. While there was a general invitation to folks to attend the codel that went down there last week, nearly a dozen of our colleagues did go. They met with people down there. This is just a first step. There will be hearings. We will get to talk to the professionals from the community. No one is saying that the investigation is complete, and no one is saying that it is completely proven, but it is absolutely something this body must do: to act, to make sure that our government agencies are not participating in a scheme that deprives people of their basic human rights. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Hampshire (Ms. Kuster).

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from California.

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Correa).