Melanie Stansbury

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4463, which would respect the principles of self-determination and self-governance by restoring the Catawba Indian Nation's right to determine their own citizenship criteria. Congress enacted the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina land Claims Settlement Act in 1993 to resolve the Nation's longstanding land claims and provide for monetary settlement funds. The act included a restrictive provision that limited the Nation's enrollment to individuals who could demonstrate both lineal descent from the 1962 final roll and a maintained political relationship with the Tribe. While the intention of this requirement was to determine eligibility for settlement distributions, which have long been completed, it has had further-reaching implications for the Tribe's ability to enroll its own members. H.R. 4463 is a simple but meaningful fix to remove this restriction so that the Nation can determine their own citizenship criteria. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2768 would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to study the feasibility of designating the Benton MacKaye Trail as a National Scenic Trail. This study is the first step toward securing a well-deserved national designation for this historic ``sister trail'' of the Appalachian Trail. Honoring the legacy of Benton MacKaye, the visionary regional planner who first proposed the Appalachian Trail and cofounded The Wilderness Society, the Benton MacKaye Trail spans nearly 300 miles across Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, running through some of the most treasured national landscapes, including 93 miles within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This is exactly the type of trail meant for this official designation under the National Trails System Act, and it is encouraging to see bipartisan enthusiasm for the potential of expanding this system. I recognize and thank Representative Cohen, who was the former sponsor of this bill, for his leadership and dedication to this issue. I am strongly supportive of efforts to designate new trails and expand the conservation of our public lands. As we navigate the escalating biodiversity and climate crises, protecting these natural spaces and ensuring public access and recreation is more critical than ever. It is my sincere hope that we will work more frequently together on a bipartisan basis to pass conservation efforts just like this one moving forward. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 41, the Unrecognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Compensation Act, would amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, or ANCSA, to address the exclusion of five southeast Alaska Native communities. When ANCSA was enacted in 1971 to resolve Alaska Native land claims, Congress created the Alaska Native Corporations, a structure that is vastly different than the framework established for Tribal nations in the lower 48. Most Alaska Natives were enrolled into both a village corporation and a regional corporation. However, the communities of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell were left off the eligibility list for establishing village corporations under ANCSA. H.R. 41 seeks to address that omission by creating Alaska Native Urban Corporations for each of the five communities and authorizing the conveyance of approximately 23,040 acres of land, consistent with the acreage provided to the other southeast Alaska Native communities under ANCSA, from the Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I recognize that, over the years, this legislation has generated debate, particularly regarding the conveyance of Federal lands within the Tongass National Forest. As the legislation advances, we remain committed to working with our colleagues in the Senate to address the historic injustices that occurred for these communities while safeguarding the cultural, ecological, and economic importance of the Tongass National Forest. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 5682, which will return ancestral homelands in southern California to the Pechanga Band of Indians. The lands that would be returned under this bill are located within the Pu'eska Mountain, a sacred site with cultural, historic, and religious significance to the Tribe. In the mid-2000s, the Tribe fought tirelessly to protect these lands from destructive mining that would have destroyed the mountain. They ultimately purchased and took into trust much of these lands. In addition to the Tribe, the Bureau of Land Management holds several parcels on the mountain, including approximately 1,261 acres adjacent to the Tribe's trust land. H.R. 5682 will take these lands into trust for the benefit of the Tribe, consolidating most of the mountain into Tribal trust land and allowing the Tribe to steward their ancestral lands. I urge my colleagues to support the passage of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, on May 12, 2026, Oversight Committee Democrats convened the first-ever hearing to solicit testimony from survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's crimes. The hearing, ``Survivors Fight for Justice: Exposing Epstein's Crimes in Palm Beach and Across the World,'' marked a critical step forward in the fight for justice and accountability. On behalf of all the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's crimes, I rise to include in the Record the remaining testimonies offered by Epstein survivors: Ms. Marijke Chartouni Dear Ranking Member Garcia and Democratic Members of the Committee, I am writing to you as a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. What was done to me--and so many other young women and girls--was not the result of chance or individual failing. It was the result of a network that operated with impunity, protected by wealth, power, and the silence of institutions that should have stopped it. Navigating the federal investigative and justice systems as a sexual trafficking survivor gave me my first painful lesson in how institutions can fail and oppress the very people they claim to protect. I saw firsthand how systems purporting to help can actually cause harm, how institutional responses reflect who is deemed worthy of protection, and how structural barriers compound individual trauma, When institutions fail to address the concerns of sexual abuse victims, the betrayal cuts at a much higher cost. It perpetuates a cycle of abandonment, one that creates long- term psychological barriers preventing survivors from seeking the help they need and deserve. It also tells survivors implicitly and explicitly that their abuse was their fault, that their trauma didn't deserve recognition, and that their recovery wasn't worth institutional investment. I have witnessed this betrayal not only in my own experience, but in the lives of fellow survivors. My friend Maria Farmer was the first survivor to report Epstein. She filed a report with authorities in 1996 and she was repeatedly ignored. The profound sense of abandonment that followed has never fully left her. I know that feeling well. The consequences of that failure have been grave. Despite the enormous public attention the Epstein case has received, Epstein's powerful network of enablers and protectors have yet to face justice. Only Maxwell has been convicted--and even that single shred of hard-won accountability is now under threat. When perpetrators are not held accountable, a message is sent to survivors and to the public alike that exploitation is tolerated, and that victims are not believed. Today, survivors like me have little trust in the very systems structured to provide us security, accountability, and restitution. If the institutions of this government will not believe us, who will? I urge you to use the full weight of your oversight authority to ensure that the survivors of Epstein and Maxwell are heard, believed, and afforded the justice that has been denied to us for decades. This starts with accountability by the United States for the FBI's failure to act in response to, or outright rejection of, Maria Farmer's 1996 report of Epstein's crimes to the FBI. I also implore you to take every action within your power to ensure that Ghislaine Maxwell is not pardoned. Pardoning her would erase the only measure of justice we have ever received and be a devastating and unconscionable blow to every survivor. Our pain is not disposable and we cannot continue shielding the powerful from accountability. Respectfully, Marijke Chartouni Ms. Rachel Benavidez Ranking Member Garcia and Democratic Members of the Committee, I write this letter to you today strengthened by the unwavering support of my fellow survivor sisters, and I speak not only for myself, but for thousands of young women who endured abuse in silence at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein and those within his trafficking network. For decades, our voices have been silenced, our stories distorted, we have faced relentless harassment, and the federal government has failed to pursue justice. But we will not be intimidated. I personally experienced severe abuse as a young woman at the hands of Epstein, and I was groomed and trafficked by Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as others. My autonomy was taken. Speaking out is not easy; to relive such moments is gut- wrenching, but I do so with the strength of my fellow survivors in my heart and with the hope that by telling the truth, we can protect young women from falling victim to those who have yet to be held accountable. This all stems from past blunders and inactions by the federal government. The United States government and law enforcement were notified decades ago of Jeffrey Epstein's disgusting crimes, including through Maria Farmer's initial 1996 FBI report--yet they failed to act. That failure to respond meaningfully and purposefully allowed Epstein's abuse to continue, resulting in irreparable harm to countless young women. Had the appropriate authorities taken decisive action when first alerted, as their job dictates, decades of survivor sexual abuse and trauma could have been prevented. This inaction cannot be forgotten, it cannot continue, and there needs to be accountability. What we are asking for is the bare minimum of justice. We have yet to see a single perpetrator or enabler within Epstein's criminal enterprise fully brought to justice. Nor has an explanation been provided as to why Maria Farmer's report to the FBI in 1996 was ignored. Instead, sensitive information about survivors has been exposed, while potential enablers have remained shielded from scrutiny. We deserve full transparency and accountability about the scale of the abuse orchestrated by Epstein and the individuals who allowed it to continue unchecked for so long. All survivors and Jane Does deserve full protection, thorough investigations need to be opened, and those who perpetrated and enabled this abuse need to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Federal institutions entrusted with justice, including the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, cannot continue to let survivors down. Survivors can no longer be failed by delay, secrecy, or inaction. The government must also be held responsible for its past inaction. That is why I am writing to you today. We must do better, for our sisters, our mothers, and our daughters. We demand justice. We demand accountability. And we will not rest until this is delivered. Sincerely, Rachel Benavidez Ms. Annie Farmer Dear Ranking Member Garcia and Democratic Members of the Committee, thank you for holding this hearing and giving us the opportunity to share statements on the record. My name is Annie Farmer and I was 16 years old when I met Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. My sister Maria Farmer has also provided testimony on the harm that unfolded because the FBI did not heed her 1996 report about the abuse she endured on Les Wexner's property in Ohio and the nightmare I experienced at Zorro Ranch in New Mexico. I have witnessed first hand the tremendous negative impacts that carrying this burden had on her life and the fallout of the institutional failures--of countless law enforcement officials, elected leaders, and those meant to protect survivors--for hundreds of girls and women who experienced similar abuse. I second her requests for the government to finally take responsibility for their inaction, to explain how this happened, and promise that it will never happen again. The DOJ, FBI, and law enforcement across the country must hold all those engaged in harming so many girls and women accountable to the fullest extent possible. I also want to speak directly to the Republican lawmakers who I recently learned from Chairman Comer were considering a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell in exchange for her testimony. Not only is a pardon or commutation completely unnecessary-- given the potential for her to be granted limited immunity for any testimony she gives to the HOC--I have no faith that she would provide accurate information. Maxwell was previously charged for lying under oath, charges she faced specifically related to lies she told about me. Even entertaining such a pardon is a deeply insulting slap in the face to my family, the other women who testified against her, and all the victims who have clung to her sentence as the one piece of justice that we have seen in this case. The fact that a potential pardon would be causally discussed as a possibility, leads me to believe that our leaders still do not understand the institutional betrayal we've endured for three decades. For those in favor of a Maxwell pardon, I want to briefly share why it would feel so harmful to me personally. Despite my disappointment in the FBI's inaction to hold Epstein and Maxwell fully accountable, I took a leap of faith and agreed to testify about my experiences when the FBI interviewed me again in 2019. After Maxwell was arrested I spent a year in lock down attending bail hearings virtually and dreading the trial. I rearranged my work obligations repeatedly to account for changes in the schedule. I spent multiple days in a small room in the federal courthouse anxiously awaiting my testimony. I was retraumatized when I was aggressively cross- examined, and then spent that Christmas awaiting a verdict, six months waiting for sentencing, and years waiting as Maxwell exhausted her appeals. I did all of this because I understood the significant harm Maxwell had caused not just to me, but how she terrorized my sister Maria with her threats, and the role she played in the abuse of brave survivors like Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who I have had the honor of calling a close friend, as well as countless others. Let me be clear: any commutation of Ghislane Maxwell's sentence or pardon for her crimes would be a tremendous insult to survivors and send a dangerous message to other victims of sexual crimes who already are often hesitant to report because of the systemic barriers they face. I ask the DOJ to permanently close the door on this, and instead open the door on a criminal investigation into the enables of Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell's abuse. Respectfully, Annie Farmer

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, on Memorial Day, we pause to honor the brave Americans who gave their lives in service to this Nation, those who wore the uniform knowing that freedom and liberty always carry a cost. Today, I rise in remembrance of the fallen from my home State of New Mexico, a State with a proud military tradition, where generations of servicemembers have answered the call to serve from communities large and small, from Tribal communities, rural towns, land grants, and our great military installations. In New Mexico, military service is woven into the fabric of our communities and the identities of our families. Families sacrifice together. Spouses hold households together through deployments. Children grow up learning resilience and service. Veterans continue serving long after they have hung up the uniform. On Memorial Day, we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice. This year, we are also mourning the 13 American servicemembers killed during the Iran war, Americans who stood in harm's way on behalf of this country and paid the ultimate sacrifice. We remember: Captain Cody Khork, Sergeant First Class Noah Tietjens, Sergeant First Class Nicole Amor, Sergeant Declan Coady, Major Jeffrey O'Brien, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, Sergeant Benjamin Pennington, Major John Klinner, Captain Ariana Savino, Technical Sergeant Ashley Pruitt, Captain Seth Koval, Captain Curtis Angst, and Technical Sergeant Tyler Simmons. We honor these brave men and women. They were sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends, neighbors, teammates, and leaders. Behind every fallen servicemember stands a family whose life will be forever changed. To the Gold Star families in New Mexico and across this Nation: We see you. We honor you. We carry a solemn responsibility to remember your loved ones not just on Memorial Day but every single day. Memorial Day is a sacred reminder of the human cost of war and the extraordinary courage of those willing to defend this Nation even at the highest cost. As we honor the fallen, we also recommit ourselves to supporting our veterans and military families who continue carrying the burdens of service today. That means ensuring veterans can access care through a strong VA system. It means supporting our military families who endure repeated deployments and long separations. It means investing in the servicemembers who are stationed today in places like Kirtland Air Force Base in my district. It means never forgetting the debt this Nation owes to those who have served. This Memorial Day, may we honor the fallen not just with words but with action worthy of their sacrifice. May we remember them, may we honor them, and may we strive every single day to build a nation truly worthy of what they gave for us. Amen.

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, what should have been bipartisan effort to honor and preserve the stories of American women has been hijacked and corrupted. The original Smithsonian American Women's History Museum Act had broad bipartisan support because it was rooted in a simple idea that the stories of all women deserve to be told. Now, it has been hijacked by Republicans to legislate identity and to erase LGBTQ+ Americans' history itself, but unfortunately, this bill is not happening in isolation. Just before Pride Month, Republicans are voting to advance a bill that would force schools to out trans kids and take away their Federal funding. Mr. Speaker, let me just say this: Bullying trans kids won't end this war. It won't address the economy. It won't make this country more free, and it won't cover up the deep corruption in the White House itself. It will only hurt our children, and that is why we are a hell, no.

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our veterans and the proud men and women who have worn the uniform in service to this great Nation. In New Mexico, service is part of our culture and who we are. Our veterans are our teachers, our firefighters, our small business owners, and our caregivers. From Kirtland Air Force Base to Cannon Air Force Base, from rural and Tribal communities to the heart of Albuquerque, our veterans have answered the call. That service must be met with a commitment from Congress to fully support their care and benefits, and that means unequivocally rejecting efforts to privatize the VA. And we must stop this administration's quiet gutting of VA programs, including nearly 26,000 jobs at the VA cut across the country this year. That is why, as we debate the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs bill this week, I have introduced an amendment to stop the privatization of the VA because we must stop these attacks on our veterans' affairs and fund the programs that our veterans have earned. Mr. Speaker, our veterans have kept faith with this Nation, and we must keep faith with them.

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. We will continue to show up at every election at every level because our democracy--

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, this week the Supreme Court of the United States dealt another devastating blow to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a law that for nearly six decades has stood as a promise that every American, no matter who you are or where you live, has a voice in our democracy, a law that generations fought for, marched for, and organized for. This decision is not just about the law. It is about our people, about our future, about our democracy, and about whether or not this country is by the people, for the people. Mr. Speaker, we are angry, we are sad, and we are mad about the politics that have led us to this moment, that at every moment we have turned backwards, the American people have risen and taken this country forward, and so we will today. We will fight back. We will fight back in Congress. We will fight back in the courts. We will fight back in our communities.

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Madam Speaker, I am appalled by what is coming before us on the floor today all wrapped up in one big, ugly rule. There are billions for ICE's warrantless searches on Americans and for funds that cut millions of Americans' children's access to food. While working Americans are struggling to put food on the table and a roof over their head, farmers are wondering how they are going to weather drought, tariffs, and soaring fuel and fertilizer prices, what are Republicans bringing to the floor in this House? They are handing ICE another blank check. They are forcing a farm bill that fails our farmers and ranchers and gives big corporations handouts, and on top of that, another FISA bill that gives a backdoor to spy on Americans. This is not governing. It is a dereliction of duty. Madam Speaker, stop gaslighting the American people. Our farmers need relief, our families need help, and the hardworking people of this country need you to show up for them and to stand up for the American people. We have had enough of this chaos, enough of this cruelty, and enough of this corruption. We must vote ``no''.

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, today, once again, our Republican colleagues are coming to the House floor to write another blank check to ICE on the backs of the American people. One year ago, Republicans in this Chamber claimed they were going to lower the debt and give tax breaks to real Americans. Instead, they gave tax breaks to billionaires on the backs of the hardworking people across this country. They gave billions in funding to terrorize our communities. They gave billions in funding to ICE, billions in funding to the war machine that is currently raging overseas. Yet, here they are again in front of this Chamber this week asking for $70 billion with zero reforms to help the American people. That is why I am here to say: Hell, no, we are not writing another blank check to ICE, not a penny more.

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I want to just take a moment as our colleagues did across the aisle to recognize Ranking Member David Scott and his family from Georgia. It is a sad day. Certainly Ranking Member Scott has proudly served this institution for a great many years and particularly on the Agriculture Committee which has helped so many Americans. I want to take a moment to just thank him, his family, and his community for his service to our great Nation. Mr. Speaker, for me his passing also brings to light the fundamental hypocrisy that I see embedded in this resolution today. I was actually quite shocked, disgusted, and angry when I read this resolution. That is because I am a daughter of rural America. I was born and raised in rural New Mexico. I was born in Farmington, New Mexico. I am the daughter of a machine operator who was one of the first women heavy equipment operators who built a coal-fired power plant in rural America which your resolution is celebrating. I grew up working with my hands digging trenches and bussing tables in rural communities in New Mexico, so to read a resolution that is filled with celebrations and rebrands in an attempt to try to repackage a bunch of corporate giveaways and tax breaks for billionaires as some sort of celebratory resolution for rural America and the hardworking people who get up every day, work their jobs, and can barely make ends meet is not only a joke, it is an insult to hardworking Americans in every community across the country. Let me just say this: Even though this resolution is trying to rebrand your big, ugly bill and give it a new name, even though this resolution is trying to self-congratulate you on a bunch of corporate giveaways like gutting environmental programs and public consumer safety programs so that corporations can save and make more money on the backs of the American people, let me just say this: You don't have a branding problem. You have a policy problem. The policies that the Republicans are putting forward don't actually help working people in America. Any attempt here today to try to package it in a different way for the American people is basically just that, an exercise to try to make what they have already shoved down the American people's throats somehow seem more appealing. I want to say how completely out of touch with rural America this resolution is. It celebrates rebranding a bill that cut healthcare for millions of Americans. It is attempting to celebrate a bill that took food out of the mouths of millions of American children. It is literally celebrating legislation to put oil and gas pipelines and LNG terminals in rural America. It is celebrating gutting clean air protections and repackaging that as a gift to rural America. You are welcome. You can't breathe clean air anymore, according to our colleagues across the aisle. That is what is actually in this resolution, a list of the litany of bills that our colleagues across the aisle have spent the last several months passing, including their utility bills. Showerheads, they spent precious time for an entire week to pass high-pressure showerheads for rich people's bathrooms. Congratulations. Republicans have the majority in the House, the Senate, and the White House, and this is what they are celebrating? It is so out of touch with real people. Real people are struggling to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. Right now, real farmers are facing diesel prices and a lack of access to fertilizer. They are wondering how they are going to plant their fields and how they are going to break even and pay back their bank loans at the end of this season. Congratulations. The President did that by going to war, an unauthorized war, in the Middle East. Republicans don't have a branding problem. They have a policy problem. They have used their time in the majority to pass legislation that gives permanent tax breaks to the richest Americans, and our lowest earning Americans actually saw a tax increase. Republicans are coming to the floor trying to celebrate this legislation and rebrand what they passed previously? It is outrageous. Let me share the things that we are doing for rural America in my district. We are passing earmarks to build fire stations with emergency services. We are building hospitals. We are building behavioral health clinics to help people with the opioid crisis. We are building rural housing. We are building water pipelines. We passed the first free childcare policy in the country and are using Federal resources to build daycares and elementary schools across New Mexico. We are investing in Tribal communities. We are delivering millions of dollars to our communities every single day because that is what rural Americans are asking for. They are not asking the Republicans to pat themselves on the back for giving tax breaks to Wall Street billionaires. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to give the Republicans a round of applause if they would like that, but I am not voting for this resolution. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to President Trump's 2027 budget. Let me be clear. This budget is completely and totally morally bankrupt to its core--rotten to its core. While we debate numbers and line items here in Washington, the reality is being felt at home in our communities. In New Mexico, people are worried about how they are going to put food on the table, a roof over their head, how they are going to keep the lights on, how they are going to make their rent. They are looking to us, the leaders in this body, to do something to help the American people. Yet, this budget does the exact opposite. It is a betrayal to the American people. It guts fundamental programs that support the working people of this country. At a time when utilities are at an all-time high, this budget eliminates LIHEAP, which is vital to helping low- income families heat and cool their homes, including millions of seniors. At a time when we have a housing crisis in every community across this country, this bill guts block grants and housing programs that provide affordable housing in our communities. At a time when millions of Americans can't afford healthcare after the GOP in this body decided to not extend healthcare subsidies, they are proposing to slash $5 billion from the National Institutes of Health. They are proposing to gut and consolidate and eliminate billions of programs from the CDC, from SAMHSA, and from HRSA. In a time when Americans are struggling with an opioid epidemic and an addiction crisis that is literally claiming lives every week in communities across this country, they are gutting the programs that keep Americans alive. In a time when New Mexicans are facing one of the most difficult water years we have probably ever seen in the history of our State in modern times, they are threatening to cut funding for water infrastructure. This is a morally bankrupt budget, and it will bankrupt the American people. Mr. Speaker, I stand here tonight to reject the moral bankruptcy of this administration, to reject the moral bankruptcy of this body that refuses to act, and to call on all of us to put forward a vision for our people that invest in the working people of this country who wake up every day and go to work in order to put food on the table and care for their families. Now, people will say we can't afford it. How could we afford to invest in our people? Let me just say this: In New Mexico, we are one of the poorest States in the United States, but we have made the moral choice to invest in our people. We have made the moral choice to become the first in the Nation to guarantee free childcare and early childhood education for every single family. We are the first in the Nation to guarantee free higher education and trade school to every New Mexican. When the GOP shut down the Federal Government and Donald Trump threatened to gut healthcare and food assistance, New Mexico stood up and acted. We extended healthcare to thousands of New Mexicans and made sure that not a single family would go without food on their table. We reject the cruelty and moral bankruptcy of politics that says we can't invest in our people, and we reject a budget that would steal from them so that an out-of-control madman in the White House could take the American people's hard-earned taxpayer dollars and buy more bombs. That is why we are here tonight, because we reject that America. Mr. Speaker, let me just say this: We are the wealthiest Nation in the world. We can invest in our people. We can lower costs. We can build an economy for every single person. We can value our communities. We can care for our communities. We are here tonight to stand up, to speak out, and to reject the moral bankruptcy of a budget that would bankrupt our people.

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, how bad does it have to get for the GOP in this Chamber to do something? Unhinged posts threatening war crimes; an illegal war in the Middle East that has killed thousands and thousands of civilians; 13 U.S. soldiers dead; an illegal invasion in Venezuela; illegal killing of civilians in the Caribbean; billions of dollars in grift, including insider trading and oil shorts, shady crypto deals, selling pardons, and his son-in-law making billion-dollar business deals while negotiating a war; and the biggest coverup in American history in the Epstein case, where the President is not only implicated but named as accused. My question, Mr. Speaker: When is enough enough to impeach, to invoke the 25th Amendment, to stop these wars, to rein in this insanity, and to remove this President now?

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, it is Earth Day tomorrow, and yet here we are today in front of the House Chamber with yet another bill attacking our fundamental environmental health bills. Mr. Speaker, I stand here in strong opposition to H.R. 6387, the FIRE Act, but more importantly, I rise in fierce defense of the environmental laws that protect our people and our planet. Because on Earth Day, instead of celebrating progress, we are watching a coordinated effort to dismantle the very safeguards that generations of Americans, Democrats and Republicans, have put in place. The Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act are all on the chopping block this week of all weeks. They are the reason our air is safer to breathe, our water is cleaner to drink, and our national heritage still exists for us today and for future generations. These laws were not passed in this Chamber lightly. They were enacted with overwhelming bipartisan support because leaders on both sides of the aisle understood something fundamental, that protecting the public health, that protecting the environment, that protecting planet Earth is not a partisan issue, but it is a patriotic duty. They created a simple but powerful framework: follow the science, measure honestly, inform the public, and give communities the opportunity to weigh in. Today, that framework, and so many of our environmental laws, are being systematically weakened here, bill by bill, loophole by loophole. Today, the FIRE Act is another clear example of that approach as this bill does not actually reduce pollution but changes the way we measure it by expanding what qualifies as an exceptional event like heat and drought, allowing States to exclude air pollution from official records. These are not rare anomalies anymore. This is the very heart of climate change evident in the data itself. Instead of addressing the crisis, this bill is trying to erase it by obscuring it in the data, in the science. Why does this matter? Because accurate data is the foundation for every protection we have under our environmental laws. It determines whether our communities can meet basic standards, whether it is safe for us to be outside, whether it is safe for us to drink water, whether it is safe for us to consume products, whether it is safe for us to continue to protect the fundamental basis of our natural ecological heritage. Whether it is bypassing environmental review under NEPA, rolling back species protections under the Endangered Species Act, or trying to redefine the very foundation for how we carry out the Clean Air Act, as this bill does, the result is the same: less accountability, more risk for Americans, and chipping away piece by piece at the protections that generations before us fought for in this body to protect the planet and our communities. Mr. Speaker, I have to say, especially in 2026 as our communities are not only facing more intense heat waves but some of the most catastrophic snowpack and drought conditions certainly in my lifetime, this is not a time to be rolling back environmental protections. Let's be honest about who this is really about. It is not for the American people. It is not for families who are worried about whether or not their children will be able to breathe. It is not for the communities that are on the frontlines of climate change. It is not for the people of this planet and this country. It is for powerful interests, industries that have worked to weaken protections and avoid accountability. This week, on Earth Day week, we have a choice: Do we stand with the bedrock laws that have protected this country and our communities for decades? Do we uphold the bipartisan legacy of our air, our land, our wildlife, and our water, or do we walk away from it? I will tell you this, Mr. Speaker: I stand with science, with our communities, and with our future generations.

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, as a cosponsor of this War Powers Resolution, this debate is making me sick: the lies and colleagues who are so weak that they won't enforce the Constitution to rein in a President who is clearly out of control. As we sit here, thousands of civilians are dead; 13 servicemembers have been killed; hundreds have been injured with brain injuries, whose lives will never be the same; millions of people have been displaced; and our American bases have been bombed. For what? Having been led into an illegal war by a madman who is attacking the Pope, threatening war crimes, implicated in the Epstein files, and who can't explain why we were there or what happens the day after, that is why it is time to end this war, to stand with our troops, and to stand with the American people. Mr. Speaker, we must pass this resolution and end this war now.

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I don't even know if I can dignify a response to the things that I have heard here this morning. Perhaps we will do another showerhead resolution or utilities or something like that. But it is very clear that there is a war in the Middle East, runaway inflation, out-of-control costs, a partial government shutdown, and a madman in the White House. What are our colleagues across the aisle calling us here today to do? They are calling us here to gut the Clean Air Act. Mr. Speaker, this is why I rise in opposition today to all three of these bills and in the strongest defense of the Clean Air Act, which is the bipartisan legislation that has protected the health of the American people and our planet for more than a half-century. It was passed in 1970 with bipartisan support from both Republicans and Democrats. It was born out of necessity when smog choked our cities and our communities suffered from unchecked pollution. It has delivered on a promise to the American people that no matter who you are or where you live, you have a fundamental human right to breathe clean air. There is nothing more basic than that right. It is a promise that has delivered. It has saved millions of lives, prevented countless illnesses, and improved air quality across the country. As we know, it is under a threat not just in this Chamber but by an administration that has rolled back standards, weakened emissions, undermined the authority of the EPA, and gutted our climate commitments. Now, at a time, especially in the West when we are facing record drought, record heat, and dangerously low snowpack, what are you all doing with your time on the floor? You are trying to further gut the fundamental program that protects our communities and our planet. That is why I rise today to oppose these bills. This is not permitting reform. This is gutting our right to breathe clean air. The FENCES Act strips the EPA's authority, the FIRE Act manipulates how air pollution is measured, and the RED Tape Act is perhaps the most alarming of all as it would silence communities and allow Federal projects to move forward without consideration to our public health and to the planet. Mr. Speaker, let me just say this: The consequences of these bills are not abstract. They are measurable, and they will be measured in lives, in the well-being of our people, and damages to our planet. The Clean Air Act exists to protect the fundamental right of every American, every human, to breathe clean air. That is why I oppose these bills unequivocally. For the sake of our children, our communities, and our future, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on these bills today.

Ms. STANSBURY

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, this administration is testing us. They are testing the truth, testing the law, but, most importantly, they are testing our resolve in the Epstein case and whether or not they can continue to lie and commit crimes right in front of our faces. Yesterday, Pam Bondi was ordered to appear in front of the Oversight and Reform Committee and did not come. Todd Blanche said that he would not release any more files because perhaps they believed that Donald Trump's blanket pardon would excuse them and save their bacon. So let me be clear: You are breaking the law, and I hope you are getting ready to face contempt. To the survivors out there who have been through decades of injustice in this case: Know that we are fighting, and while the road to justice may be long, we will not stop until we get it.