Mark Takano

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Chairman, is the gentleman concerned about the pending arrest?

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer an amendment to the Comprehensive CREDIT Act of 2020 that would prohibit the inclusion of arrest records on a consumer report if the arrest did not lead to a conviction. Consumer reporting in this country is extremely broken, and consumer reports regularly have unexpected errors. Millions of public records do not contain accurate information, which means that reports have been found to include outdated information and misclassified offenses. Additionally, incomplete reports fail to say whether or not a person who faced an arrest was exonerated or if criminal charges against them were dropped. An arrest does not prove criminal conduct and it is not a presumption of guilt. If a consumer was arrested and there was no subsequent conviction, that arrest should not be allowed to show on a consumer report. Now, due to the extreme bias in our criminal justice system, people of color are arrested and convicted at disproportionate levels in this country. For example, we know that African Americans and Hispanics are approximately two to three times more likely to be arrested than their White counterparts. These disproportionate levels of arrests can negatively impact the ability for African Americans and Hispanics to obtain housing or find employment. That is why California, New York, and Kentucky have prohibited the inclusion of arrest records without a conviction on consumer reports. We need to follow their lead and implement this nationwide. I am encouraged by the work of my colleagues on the Financial Services Committee to limit the time adverse information can remain on a consumer credit report, including information pertaining to convictions. My amendment goes one step further by prohibiting arrest records from being included if they do not lead to a criminal conviction. Consumers deserve a fair shot in society and should not be penalized for wrongful arrests or arrests that did not lead to a guilty conviction. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. I urge that my colleagues back this very commonsense amendment, which would ensure that any person who has been arrested but never convicted or whose case has never been brought to trial--actually, not been convicted. I want to make it very clear, if they have not been convicted, they should not be listed on a consumer credit report. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I appreciate the spirit in which the gentleman from North Carolina understands the intent here. I believe that most Americans seeing this language on its face would say it makes common sense. There is a kind of netherworld for that person who has been arrested but, yet, who has not been tried. I still say that our system of jurisprudence says that the person who has been arrested and not yet tried is still presumed to be innocent, and I still maintain that it is reasonable for Congress to hold a consumer reporting agency accountable to only reporting records of arrest for those who have been convicted. I understand there is some netherworld here, but I still think we need to err on the side of our system of jurisprudence, which says that we presume a person to be innocent until proven guilty, and a person who has been arrested and not yet gone to trial is in that status. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Chairman, we believe in those instances where there has been an arrest and there is a pending trial, so the arrest shows up on their record and there is a pending trial, we think it is a very small number of cases. I do agree with the gentleman from North Carolina that is something we should address, and I would be more than happy to work with him on final language if this should gain legs. I believe we can cure that particular instance.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Under Secretary Betsy DeVos, the Department of Education has abandoned its responsibility to put students first and hold predatory, for-profit colleges accountable. The Department has rolled back protections for students seeking a foothold in the middle class through higher education. In what amounts to a giveaway to predatory, for-profit colleges, Secretary DeVos has dismantled a crucial protection for students who were defrauded by shady institutions that saddled them with student loan debt, provided them with subpar education, and issued them useless degrees. Borrower defense to repayment was intended to provide full student loan debt forgiveness to defrauded students. But Secretary DeVos has issued a new rule which makes it harder for students to prove that they were defrauded and fails to provide students with the full student loan debt relief that they are legally entitled to. Now, to make this even worse, she eliminated protections for students whose schools shut down, shut down before they completed their programs, leaving them burdened with loans and often without the ability to transfer their credits elsewhere. 240,000 students--nearly 42,000 students from California--are waiting for relief, suffering emotional and financial hardships in the process. Many of these students attended the now-defunct Corinthian Colleges, an institution that even my Republican colleagues have agreed was in the business of defrauding students. These students did everything right, but they were deceived by a slew of false promises from for-profit institutions that only saw them as a boost to their bottom line. Secretary DeVos is using the power of her office to defend a shady industry. Today, we are here to send a clear message: We Democrats stand with America's students who should be relieved of student debt unjustly accrued.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Julie Bornstein on her retirement from the Coachella Valley Housing Coalition. For more than 30 years, Julie has worked tirelessly as an advocate for affordable housing throughout the Coachella Valley. She has dedicated her career to making a difference in the lives of thousands of individuals in Riverside and Imperial Counties. Her leadership has been instrumental in raising awareness about the homelessness issue so many members of our communities face. Through her efforts, we have seen an increase in the availability of affordable housing throughout the Inland Empire. Apart from her work in the Coachella Valley Housing Coalition, Julie served in the California State Assembly and was chosen to serve as the chair of the Democratic Caucus. She went on to serve as director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development. Later, Julie was appointed CEO and president of the Campaign for Affordable Housing. Madam Speaker, Julie's work has not gone unnoticed, and the Coachella Valley is a better place because of her. We wish her a happy retirement.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.J. Res. 80.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 80) approving the request of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for a waiver under section 1703E(f) of title 38, United States Code.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.J. Res. 80 introduced by Representative Roe of Tennessee, the ranking member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. This resolution would grant VA limited authority to conduct a dental health access pilot, which VA has proposed under section 152 of the VA MISSION Act of 2018. Under section 152, VA can pilot healthcare payment and service delivery models through its Center for Innovation for Care and Payment. On December 6, 2019, VA submitted a section 152 report to Congress proposing the Care Coordination for Dental Benefits program. Through this pilot, VA would refer veterans who are ineligible for dental benefits to private providers or community programs that offer pro bono or discounted dental services. VA will not pay private providers for the cost of these services under the pilot. To carry out this dental referral service, the section 152 report contained a request that Congress narrowly exempt or ``waive'' VA's authorizing statute. When a section 152 report contains a request from VA to ``waive'' its authorizing statute, Congress must pass a joint resolution to approve a waiver so VA can proceed with a pilot program. By passing this joint resolution, we are approving VA's waiver request so it can pilot the referral of veterans for free or low-cost dental care. Madam Speaker, currently VA provides dental services for only about 8 percent of veterans who are enrolled in the VA healthcare system. Generally, to receive dental care at VA's expense, veterans must have a dental condition that is related to a service-connected disability, be a former prisoner of war, be rated as 100 percent permanently and totally disabled, or need dental services in preparation for a hospital admission. Under this pilot, VA will be able to coordinate dental care for the remaining 92 percent of veterans ineligible for dental care. Specifically, VA will provide administrative support potentially through a call center and online self-service portal to educate and assist these veterans in accessing community programs and providers that offer pro bono or discounted dental services. According to VA, community dental programs are available through federally qualified health centers, community health centers, and the American Dental Association. Through this pilot, VA staff will be able to assist veterans in scheduling appointments with dentists that participate in these programs. VA staff will be authorized to obtain records from the dental visits and provide them to veterans' VA primary care providers. I support granting VA this limited waiver because it will not permit VA to outsource more healthcare to private providers beyond its current authority, and it will not drain precious resources from VA hospitals and clinics. I support this pilot because it has the potential to improve veterans' access to dental care, and to improve the timeliness of that care. Neglecting oral health can have serious medical consequences. For example, clinical researchers have identified links between poor oral health and other medical conditions such as heart disease, bacterial pneumonia, and stroke. VA estimates this pilot will be cost neutral, as there will be cost savings from reducing emergency department visits associated with delayed treatment or nontreatment of oral health issues. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting H.J. Res. 80. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. As we welcome the new year and a new decade, I also want to take a moment to recognize my colleague and ranking member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Dr. Phil Roe, who has announced he will be retiring at the end of this Congress. I salute my friend as a Vietnam veteran, as a doctor, and as a tireless advocate for veterans across the country. I have served with Dr. Roe since I was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2013, and I am proud of the bipartisan work we have done since then to ensure we honor our Nation's commitment to our veterans. Madam Speaker, this Congress alone, we have passed 40 bills out of this committee with 36 passed out of the House and five signed into law. Despite the political rancor, which takes up much of the oxygen in Washington, D.C., this committee has set the standard for bipartisanship in this body. In 2015, though I was still fairly new to this committee, then- Chairman Roe invited several Members to join him on a congressional delegation to Afghanistan to meet with servicemembers over the Thanksgiving holiday. He set a great example, and I have worked to replicate that example during my time as chairman. This past Thanksgiving, we did just that. I took freshmen Members to spend the holidays with those away from their families in service to our country. During Dr. Roe's tenure as chairman of this committee, he was gracious in approving travel to the border so I could better understand the issues facing deported veterans. Following that trip, I, along with fellow members Ranking Member Tim Walz and Representatives Vargas and Coffman, requested additional information from the Department of Homeland Security on this veteran population. As a result, we learned that ICE did not know how many veterans it had deported and failed to follow policies already in place that could have shielded veterans from deportation. Dr. Roe also has built on the hard work of former Ranking Member Walz and helped lay the groundwork for our success in finally passing the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019. He helped me bring this long-overdue legislation across the finish line, and I trust that he will continue to work with me to ensure our true intent of the law is implemented. Madam Speaker, we have always worked to find common areas of agreement. Because of his agreement to include key protections for whistleblowers in the last Congress' VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017, I reluctantly supported that legislation, but it is clear today that these protections are nowhere near as strong as they should be. I hope Dr. Roe will join me in pressing this administration to implement these to their true intent and help ensure whistleblowers can come forward when they need to, free from retaliation. Madam Speaker, I thank Dr. Roe for supporting this committee's bipartisan work to preserve the power of veterans' voices and combat online disinformation campaigns perpetrated by foreign trolls and internet actors. I look forward to working with him to continue to speak with a unified voice and help prevent the targeting of veterans and servicemembers. Madam Speaker, I congratulate Ranking Member Roe on more than 11 years of hard work for the people of Tennessee and decades of service to our country. It is my hope that, despite it being an election year, we can continue to come together and finish our work for our Nation's veterans. Madam Speaker, I ask that all of my colleagues join me in honoring Dr. Roe for his many years of service but also in passing H.J. Res. 80. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, America is less safe when the words and actions of our leaders cast unnecessary suspicion on our fellow citizens. America is less safe when families, including children, are targeted by government officials based on their ethnicity or by their country of origin. Reports of unjust, prolonged detentions of Iranian Americans and permanent residents at our borders should be alarming to everyone. It calls to mind the unjust internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. My own parents were toddlers in Japanese American internment camps, and they, along with 120,000 others, were unjustly incarcerated, having committed no crimes or acts of disloyalty. What happened to my family was the result of a failure of political leadership. All of us in this body have a duty to remain vigilant and to defend the dignity of all citizens. To do nothing is to be complicit in violating the spirit of our Constitution and the individual liberties it guarantees.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I am here to condemn the President's hostile actions against Iran that led us to the brink of war. President Trump had no legal justification to launch an attack against Iran. The President's dangerous provocation was unlawful and unconstitutional, and Congress must assert its sole authority to declare war. His actions made America less safe. Today, I will be voting for a War Powers Resolution to check the President's use of military action against Iran. But the need for Congress to reassert its authority does not end there. We must repeal the 2002 AUMF and prevent the administration from engaging in an unauthorized war by restricting funding from being used to wage war against Iran. We must not yield to the voices of extreme hawks that see war as the only answer. We must not go to war with Iran.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record my remarks supporting the impeachment of President Donald Trump. Madam Speaker, I rise today as a strong believer in the American experiment and the democratic norms that distinguish us from the monarchies that existed at the birth of our nation and from the authoritarian tyrannies that exist today. The facts that were uncovered during the House's impeachment inquiry point to unlawful misconduct by President Trump--misconduct that demands that we, the Congress, hold him to account. The president's egregious abuse of power undermined the integrity of our elections, which are the foundation of our democracy, and threatened our national security. Furthermore, his refusal to cooperate with the House's impeachment inquiry represents an unprecedented level of contempt for the law and violation of our democratic norms. What the president obstructed wasn't trivial, nor was it about concealing private conduct--he obstructed a Congressional investigation of great significance to our national interest and infringed on Congress' ability to carry out our constitutional duty. As a separate and co-equal branch of government we must hold the president accountable for his abuse of power and his violation of the public trust.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, this bipartisan legislation sponsored by Ranking Member Roe and me, and 17 other cosponsors, would provide critically needed relief for nonprofit companies that employ blind and disabled workers under the AbilityOne Program. Approximately 2,000 blind and disabled Americans, including many veterans, are employed under VA's AbilityOne contracts. Without this legislation, these nonprofit companies will likely lose their VA contracts because they will lose their award preference. This bill would only exempt or grandfather the existing AbilityOne VA contracts from losing their preference so these employees would keep their jobs. It will not expand the program. VA expends approximately $27 billion on contracts and government purchase cards for goods and services. Of this spending, only about $100 million is spent on contracts with AbilityOne nonprofit businesses. Approximately $5 billion is spent on contracts with veteran-owned small businesses, many owned by disabled veterans. In other words, VA's AbilityOne contracts are a very small percentage of the Department's spending. However, the program is vital for the 2,000 blind and otherwise disabled individuals employed through AbilityOne. This committee has long championed the Veterans First Contracting Program and providing more opportunities for veteran-owned small businesses to do business with the Federal Government. This legislation means we can support both the Veterans First and AbilityOne programs that employ and increase economic opportunities for veterans and individuals with disabilities. This bill was approved unanimously by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and is supported by the Blinded Veterans Association, National Federation of the Blind, American Council of the Blind, National Industries for the Blind, National Association for the Employment of People Who Are Blind, SourceAmerica, and National Council of SourceAmerica Employers. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this very important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 4920.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3530) to amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enforce the licensure requirement for medical providers of the Department of Veterans Affairs, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I request unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 3530, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3530, as amended, the Improving Confidence in Veterans' Care Act, introduced by Representative Cloud of Texas. This legislation requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to conduct better oversight of its hospitals' compliance with existing policies on patient safety and quality of care. Specifically, the bill directs VA to conduct annual audits and to report to Congress on its ability to uphold or failure to follow standards for reviewing the clinical competency of its healthcare professionals. This bill mandates that VA examine whether its hospitals are appropriately assessing the qualifications and clinical abilities of VA healthcare professionals, both before they are hired and while they are caring for veterans. It also requires VA to ensure employees and contractors hold active Drug Enforcement Administration registrations if they are required to prescribe, dispense, administer, or conduct research with controlled substances. If concerns arise related to the clinical competence of VA healthcare professionals, this bill requires VA to ensure its officials conduct prompt reviews. And when quality of care or patient safety concerns are substantiated, it requires VA to ensure its hospital leaders promptly report those concerns to the National Practitioner Data Bank and State licensing boards. In addition, this measure requires VA to provide mandatory biannual training for hospital employees charged with reviewing VA clinician credentials and monitoring their clinical practice. The Veterans Affairs' Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing related to these issues on October 16. At the hearing, my colleagues and I discussed several concerning cases of clinical incompetency and misconduct among VA clinicians that were widely reported in the media in recent months. We also explored the very real risks of patient harm that arise from VA medical centers' noncompliance with departmental policies and a lack of oversight on the part of leaders who are higher up in VA's chain of command. For example, in August 2019, a former VA pathologist in Arkansas was charged with involuntary manslaughter, fraud, and making false statements in an attempt to conceal years of substance abuse. Over his 11-year tenure with VA, he is believed to have botched diagnoses for an estimated 3,000 veterans, some of whom died. The VA facility that employed this physician either did not catch or ignored his previous DUI convictions when they hired him. Despite numerous complaints from colleagues, it took years for leadership at the facility to investigate allegations that the doctor was showing up drunk at work. In addition, in September 2019, the VA OIG reported that multiple leadership failures and poor oversight of clinical competency at a VA facility in the Midwest allowed an ophthalmologist to perform substandard surgery and clinic laser procedures for 2 years. This doctor regularly took hours to complete cataract surgeries that should have taken less than 30 minutes. The facility director and chief of staff repeatedly dismissed concerns that were raised by other staff, and facility leaders never called on experts to directly observe this doctor's surgeries until long after concerns were raised. VA's regional leaders also failed to carry out related oversight responsibilities. Both the VA Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Government Accountability Office have identified longstanding concerns with whether VA is doing enough to ensure its medical facilities only employ and contract with highly qualified, highly competent healthcare professionals. H.R. 3530, as amended, will require VA to implement a number of GAO recommendations that were discussed at the October 16 hearing. Both the Federation of State Medical Boards and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing support this legislation. I urge all Members to join me in approving this important bill. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Let me say that it was with bipartisan shock and horror that we heard of the revelations in Arkansas. Certainly, our bipartisan hearts go out to the families of those veterans in Arkansas. Rest assured, this committee, on a bipartisan basis, will do everything that we can to make sure that these sorts of hiring mistakes do not happen again and that the tragedy we saw in the facilities in Arkansas do not happen again. I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 3530, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4183) to direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study on disability and pension benefits provided to members of the National Guard and members of reserve components of the Armed Forces by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes, as amended.