Norma Torres

Mrs. TORRES of California

Mrs. TORRES of California. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 144, providing for consideration of H.J. Res. 46, relating to a national emergency declared by the President on February 15, 2019. The rule provides for consideration of the legislation under a closed rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Additionally, the rule provides that the provisions of section 202 of the National Emergencies Act shall not apply during the remainder of the 116th Congress to a joint resolution terminating the national emergency declared by the President on February 15, 2019. This provision was included to avoid privileged legislative action on redundant resolutions. Mr. Speaker, today we must stand up for democracy; we must stand up for the rule of law; and, most importantly, we must stand up for the United States Constitution, the Constitution that we took an oath to defend when we were sworn into office. Mr. Speaker, the Constitution we swore to defend granted Congress the power of the purse. That means Congress decides how we spend the American people's hard-earned money. Congress spoke when we passed, and President Trump signed, a spending bill that granted him $1.4 billion for fencing along the border. Now President Trump is acting like a dictator by ignoring Congress and declaring a national emergency. As a result, billions of taxpayer dollars would be taken from high-priority military construction projects that ensure our troops have the essential training, readiness, and quality of life necessary to keep the American people safe. Mr. Speaker, as a former member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I have visited countries where the rule of law takes a backseat to the whims of their Presidents. Just look at Venezuela, where Nicolas Maduro has removed every single obstacle to his power. When he objected to the rulings of the judges, he ended their terms early and replaced them with his political allies. When the democratically elected congress didn't agree with him, he created a new congress filled with his supporters. Last year, he even banned prominent opposition leaders from running into the Presidential election. He has demonized the press and even took CNN en Espanol off the air. Last night, he detained one of America's journalists, Jorge Ramos, of Univision. Fighting with judges, manipulating elections, attacking the press. Mr. Speaker, does any of this sound familiar? Now you have a situation where food is so scarce that the average Venezuelan has lost 24 pounds in the last year and more than 3 million have fled the country. The Maduro presidency, now that is a true national emergency for the people of Venezuela. The collapse of democratic institutions is also happening in Nicaragua and Guatemala. The President of Guatemala and his allies in congress are taking the country down the same path, removing every check on their power. They have expelled the international prosecutors who dared to investigate them. And just as Guatemala's Government has tried to undermine and delegitimize the police and prosecutors who are investigating, President Trump has called Robert Mueller's investigation a ``witch hunt'' and denigrated the brave men and women of the FBI. Mr. Speaker, we cannot allow this President--or any President, Republican or Democrat--to take us down the same path as Venezuela, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, all to build a wasteful and ineffective wall along our southern border. These women and children coming from Central America do not represent a national emergency. That is why 58 former national security officials, both Republicans and Democrats, issued a statement saying there is ``no factual basis'' for the President's emergency. Our call to duty today is to protect, to defend our Constitution. We will vote, and we will see how many in this body have that same respect for the rule of law. Mr. Speaker, I urge our Republican colleagues to join us in this effort. It is not too late for my colleagues across the aisle to tell the President that this is wrong, that the Constitution that we swore an oath to uphold really matters. We stand here today to stop this power grab of our own democracy. A ``yes'' vote will affirm our democracy. A ``no'' vote further erodes the trust in our democracy and, again, expands executive power. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues on which side they stand. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. TORRES of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mrs. TORRES of California. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Woodall), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave

Mrs. TORRES of California. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 144 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mrs. TORRES of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, we can talk about the scary people from our southern border. I am not that scary looking, am I? I think not. The fact is that the number one trading partner for California and Texas is Mexico, a friendly country. For Central America, we are standing up for our responsibility to uphold democracy in the Northern Triangle, to address the root cause of migration. That is where our focus should be. Do we need an immigration reform package that brings 11 million people out of the shadows? Absolutely. These are the 11 million people who our agricultural partners depend on to deliver fresh food to our table. But we are not doing that here. What we are doing here, what the President has chosen to do, is political theater, political theater for 2020. In essence, a vote against this resolution means a vote against the families of the military people who are depending on us to provide infrastructure, schools for their children to learn, and quality housing. Do Democrats think and believe that fortifying our borders is important? Absolutely. We have committed billions of dollars to ensure that we stop the narcotrafficking that happens at our ports of entry. That is where it is happening. We need to work together on these issues, not relinquish our responsibilities, our legislative responsibility, and the power of the purse that we hold. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. TORRES of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mrs. TORRES of California

Mrs. TORRES of California. Madam Speaker, since the 116th Congress took office this January, I have voted five times to open up the Federal Government. And today I rise in support of the conference report. I want to congratulate the conferees, and specifically, Chairman Lowey, Ranking Member Granger, and the other conferees for their hard work, for coming together, and spending so much time to ensure that we have a bill moving forward that opens up our government. This is a bipartisan statement about who we are as a country. This was a fight to reclaim the country that welcomed me as a little girl from Guatemala, to make sure that this country welcomes other children who come here fleeing violence and poverty. This bill will prevent another stupid, costly government shutdown, and it is time that we give our Federal workers some certainty, move past this crisis, and get down to the business of governing. Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this measure.

Mrs. TORRES of California

Mrs. TORRES of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate Black History Month and to honor countless African American leaders throughout our history who have pushed relentlessly to make our Union one that is more just and more equitable for all people. We recognize the incredible progress that they made possible and the work that we still need to do to ensure that opportunity isn't something that is determined by the color of our skin. We honor the courageous and determined everyday men and women, like Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer, who challenged every barrier in our society and set a path for the activists of today, like Patricia Nickols-Butler, the CEO of Community Action Partnership. She has dedicated her entire life to making sure that not one single family in San Bernardino County is left behind by providing them with the resources they need to succeed. We honor educators like Maxine Smith, who fought discrimination in our classrooms to give every child an equal opportunity to learn, and leaders in the Inland Empire like Dr. Soraya M. Coley, the president of Cal Poly Pomona, who is committed to helping every student reach his and her full potential; trailblazers like San Bernardino County's first Black schoolteacher, Dorothy Inghram, who taught every child to reach for the stars and never give up, or Dr. Eric Bishop, the vice president of student services at Chaffey College, who has been a guiding force for every student when the going got tough. We honor the countless Black veterans who fought for our freedoms in every war, from the Revolutionary War to our current conflicts in the Middle East, and law enforcement officers who put their own lives on the line every single day to keep our communities safe. We salute Chief Derek Williams of the Ontario Police Department, whose commitment to service began in the Air Force. We honor the public servants like Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to Congress, who showed us what it meant to be ``unbought and unbossed'' and made way for the historic number of women running for office today; and Wilmer Amina Carter, the first African American woman to represent San Bernardino County in the California State Assembly. Throughout her time in office, she worked to improve the lives of people in her community by passing laws to strengthen healthcare, safety, transportation, and help create jobs. We honor the moral leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who made America listen--listen--to its conscience and sacrificed his life to advance civil rights for each and every one of us. And we honor Pastor Chuck Singleton of Loveland Church in Ontario and Rialto, whose words provide comfort and healing here at home and abroad through his humanitarian work. The successes of African American leaders reach far and wide and are deeply entrenched in each of our lives. May we all take the time to uplift the immeasurable contributions that African American leaders have made to our country this month and every single day of the year. May we renew our commitment and join them to pick up the fight for equality, opportunity, and justice for all Americans.

Mrs. TORRES of California

Mrs. TORRES of California. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman from California for yielding and for being such a great leader in helping those impacted by the devastating California wildfires. The numbers are devastating. Nearly 2 million acres burned. Upwards of $3.5 billion in damage, 8,500 individual fires, 98 civilians killed, 6 firefighters killed, and over 11,000 homes destroyed. With climate change only making things worse, we must help California rebuild because this is just the beginning. Rainstorms will now further ravage communities, causing mudslides and flooding. The amendment I have offered with Representative Thompson begins that rebuilding process by increasing funding for the community development fund by $50 million, specifically for those communities that were hardest hit in the previous year. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman for his work on this.

Mrs. TORRES

Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. Mr. Speaker, this rule represents many of the failures of the 115th Congress. To put it succinctly, the legislation before us is a bill which has absolutely no chance of passing into law and a bill that will add billions--billions--of dollars to our national debt. I guess this is a Merry Christmas to those who hold our national debt, but this is not what our constituents sent us to do here. They sent us here to work together and find compromise in order to make our communities, their lives, better. This rule makes in order the Senate amendment to H.R. 88, Shiloh National Military Park Boundary Adjustment and Parker's Crossroads Battlefield Designation Act. But it is more accurate to say this is the GOP's second tax scam. Instead of taking this opportunity to use our remaining time here to actually accomplish something, our vote today on this rule will prove to be meaningless. The Senate is leaving town and has left us just a few items that we can accomplish, and this isn't one of them. However, one item that is ready for passage is Savanna's Act. Mr. Speaker, Native American women face a murder rate 10 times higher than the national average, with 84 percent experiencing some form of violence in their lifetime. The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 and the Tribal Law and Order Act have helped bring attention to the high rates of violence against Native women. However, there is still no reliable way of knowing how many Native women go missing each year because the databases that hold statistics of these cases are extremely outdated and in need of reform. Congress hasn't paid attention to the lives of Native American women. That is why I joined Senator Heitkamp in introducing Savanna's Act earlier this year, named after Savanna Greywind, a pregnant, 22-year- old North Dakota woman and member of the Spirit Lake Nation, who was murdered in 2017. Savanna's Act would require the Department of Justice to finally keep a nationwide database of missing and murdered Native women. This is common sense. It passed the Senate unanimously last month. One Member--one Member of this body--has decided to prevent us from passing Savanna's Act, and the rest have capitulated, one Member standing in the way of finally doing the right thing for Native women, American women, women who are victims of crime. Shameful, and shame on this body for allowing this and not taking this last week of the 115th Congress to finally bring about some justice to these cases. Now, one thing that this body, the 115th Congress, has been really good for in the face of tragedy has been moments of silence, and that is why, today, I want to take some time that we have left to have a moment of silence. Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleagues to join me in a moment of silence for Savanna. Mr. Speaker, instead of taking action on Savanna's Act, we are asked to vote on this rule to pass a tax bill which has been crafted in secret and has no chance of becoming law, when we could be doing something for justice, for truth, for victims of crime. This is the 115th Congress. Good riddance. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. General Leave

Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, it is just about time to finish up here and return home for the holidays, time to see our loved ones and give them a hug. But for Savanna's family and the countless other Native American families destroyed because of this violence, there will be no return home for them, and we will have failed these families by not passing Savanna's Act today. Instead, we are here because of a wall--not the wall that you are assuming, not talking about our southern wall. I am talking about the wall of debt, a massive wall of debt that this Republican Congress has built, trillions--trillions--of dollars of debt towering over our children and grandchildren's future. This rule will build it even higher. That is why I urge my colleagues to oppose the previous question and the rule. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, does the gentleman from Texas have any more speakers?

Mrs. TORRES

Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 140, the Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act. No institution is more critical to our national defense and homeland security than the United States Coast Guard, and every day, the men and women of the Coast Guard carry out vital, life-saving missions, including drug interdiction and search and rescue. On November 9, I had the opportunity to tour the Coast Guard's District 11 facilities in Alameda, California. I was deeply impressed by the dedication and professionalism of the Coast Guard officials I met. However, I was also troubled by the state of some of Coast Guard's equipment. Resources for the Coast Guard are clearly needed, now more than ever, so it is deeply unfortunate that the Trump administration has sought to cut the Coast Guard's budget by as much as 14 percent and has transferred millions of dollars in Coast Guard funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Congress should not allow the Trump administration to raid the Coast Guard budget to implement its anti-immigrant policies. But today, I urge all my colleagues to support S. 140, and I applaud the Chairman and Ranking Member for their hard work bringing this important measure to the floor. Likewise, it is vitally important that, as negotiations regarding the Fiscal Year 2019 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act continue, Congress include sufficient funding for the Coast Guard so that it has the resources it needs to carry out its vital missions.

Mrs. TORRES

Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize this week as Malnutrition Awareness Week. Every 60 seconds, 10 hospitalized patients with malnutrition go undiagnosed, with the majority of these individuals being older adults. Malnutrition among seniors and older adults can lead to a greater risk of chronic disease, frailty, disability and increases in healthcare costs. Malnutrition also disproportionately impacts minorities who are often managing comorbid chronic diseases. In my home district, 80 percent of the constituents I represent are of Hispanic background. It is of great concern to hear that malnutrition is more than twice as common among low-income older adult Latino households. We cannot advance malnutrition care and promote improved patient recovery if we do not align the identification of and interventions for malnutrition with healthcare quality incentive programs. The great news is that there are common-sense solutions that can close this gap in care now. We can first begin by measuring the scope of the problem. Sadly, we currently don't know the full extent of the malnutrition problems plaguing our senior population. To change this, we can add screening measures for malnutrition to the national health surveys of older adults and implement national key health indicators and Healthy People 2030 goals for older Americans. Doing something as simple as adding malnutrition measures will help shape public health programs and better guide healthcare professionals as they address serious health conditions. Another simple change we can make is adding older adult malnutrition to national dietary guidelines. We cannot expect older adults and their families to take steps to address malnutrition if we do not give them the tools to identify the problem. We must meet older Americans half way so that families can make appropriate interventions for their unique conditions and circumstances. Therefore, I call on HHS and USDA to include dietary guidance for the prevention and treatment of older adult malnutrition and the closely aligned problem of age-related sarcopenia listed in the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Lastly, malnutrition should be interweaved into healthcare incentive programs. A patient's nutrition status is rarely evaluated and managed as individuals transition across care settings. I therefore urge the CMS to include malnutrition electronic clinical quality measures in Medicare quality programs as well as in measures related to malnutrition in care transition programs. This will help reduce hospital readmission rates and improve transitional care for seniors in the long run. Increasing awareness of nutrition's role on patient recovery and implementing these measurable changes will help educate healthcare professionals and families which will result in helping seniors live healthy and independent lives.

Mrs. TORRES

Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, California is the fifth largest global economy and a donor State. We should be trying to make every other State more like the great State of California.

Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, the GOP tax scam has been nothing but a giveaway to millionaires and corporations. This Republican majority is adding trillions--trillions--of dollars to our national debt, debt that our children and grandchildren will have to pay for for years to come, trillions in debt that will put Medicare and Social Security at risk. Already, we can't provide the minimum funding to the ACA, making it harder for our constituents to get health insurance and access to care. Now, how are the Republicans trying to pay for this debt? By attacking--by attacking--the hardworking taxpayers like those that I represent in the great State of California. That is right, so millionaires and corporations can have a tax break. I call that welfare for the most affluent people and corporations in America at the cost of the hardworking taxpayers in California. And let me say that again. Millions of Californians will see their taxes increase with this GOP tax scam. Now, today, as if we haven't already done enough, the Republican majority is voting to make this tax increase permanent, a permanent tax increase to our hardworking taxpayers. California is the fifth largest global economy.

Mrs. TORRES

Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. Mr. Speaker, we are just two more legislative days away from the third Republican government shutdown of 2018. However, we have done our jobs to prevent that today. H.R. 6157 is a testament that despite party differences, we can still come together to work out our differences and put the American public's interest first. I want to be clear that I do not agree with the rule that we are considering, because this rule makes in order a wholly unrelated immigration bill. This rule fails to allow the debate on a number of amendments and marks the 98th closed rule of this Congress, an all-time record. That is why I urge my colleagues to oppose the previous question and the rule. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman from Texas an additional 1 minute.

Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman from Texas an additional 2 minutes.

Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, to discuss our proposal, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today we are considering a continuing resolution that will extend the Violence Against Women Act only until December 7. I am glad that we aren't letting this important legislation expire. However, a simple extension is not enough. We need to fully reauthorize and strengthen this landmark act. Therefore, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up Representative Jackson Lee's legislation, H.R. 6545, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record, along with extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I thank the gentleman for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. Mr. Speaker, if you are having deja vu right now, it is because we have been here one too many times before. Our government is on the verge of yet another government shutdown this week. After yet another district work period, we return today to this rule to consider the bills it makes in order. We are left with just one last chance to do our work and one final opportunity to send President Trump a funding bill that reflects the true value of bipartisanship, one without poison pill riders which would put so many of our constituents out of work. This rule makes in order H.R. 6157, the DOD, HHS, and Education omnibus bill; and H. Res. 1071, which is a rebuke on some localities expanding voting opportunities to immigrants. While some of my colleagues may wish to speak about H. Res. 1071, I will focus on the good work that we are accomplishing today, not a meaningless political game House Republican leadership is choosing to waste our time with to further divide this House and instead of focusing on preventing a shutdown. H.R. 6157, the second minibus to keep the government open in fiscal year 2019, is an example of how this body can still work together to reach a bipartisan consensus when we take politics out of the picture. Perhaps more important than what is included in the minibus is what is not included. This minibus rejects the proposed cuts to healthcare programs, job training, education, and access to healthcare that were in President Trump's budget proposal. This minibus also rejects President Trump's efforts to expand family separation at our Nation's border. While many children remain separated from their parents, at least this minibus agreement does not include House Republican language that would have overridden the Flores settlement and authorized the indefinite detention of immigrant children. This is a very small victory, but an important one. This minibus is a fundamental statement of our values, and the United States Congress should not condone the President's inhumane practice of family separation. In addition, let me make this clear: nothing in this legislation will pay for one foot of the President's border wall. I hope President Trump joins this Congress and listens to the majority of the American people who don't want to fund this wall. This Congress has repeatedly rejected funding for his misguided wall, and it is about time the President gave up on such a foolish waste of taxpayer dollars while our bridges, freeways, and streets are crumbling beneath us. That does not do anything to keep America safe. Let's talk about the good things that this bill brings to our constituents. I am happy to report that this legislation provides a 2.6 percent pay raise for servicemembers who continue to serve our Nation around the world. As a mother of a veteran, I celebrate that even more. It is wonderful to hear that our servicemembers are finally being acknowledged for the hard work that they do keeping our Nation safe at home and abroad. In addition to paying our servicemembers more, this agreement will protect our men and women in uniform from one of the most common harms they encounter: shamelessly stated as sexual assault. The $5 million in additional funding we will provide will fully implement and expand the Sexual Assault Special Victims Counsel Program. The Counsel Program provides representation for survivors navigating the complicated military justice process. Hopefully, victims of sexual abuse will not have to wait years to report this crime. The conference report also provides a $35 million increase, for a total of $270 million, to construct, renovate, repair, or expand elementary and secondary public schools on military installations, giving military families an opportunity to thrive and educate their young. In other words, this increase means that we are not only helping our servicemembers, but the families that support them and who provide invaluable moral support for our soldiers. Another bipartisan achievement included in this legislation is an increase for environmental restoration by more than $13 million. One of the shortfalls of this Congress has been a failure to address the water crises we have seen ravaging our communities. In California alone, dozens of communities have experienced recent rates of childhood poisoning that surpass those in Flint, Michigan, with one locale showing rates nearly three times higher. It is unacceptable that in the richest Nation in the world, our children are being poisoned because we refuse to take the necessary actions to provide the infrastructure to deliver clean water to our communities. Securing this funding is a real step to helping invest in communities and the health of our children. That is why we included yet another investment into our communities' health by increasing funding for the National Institutes of Health by $2 billion. This rejects the cuts proposed by the President in his administration and instead supports research into cures for life- threatening diseases like Alzheimer's, cancer, HIV/AIDS, influenza, and diabetes. Additionally, we are providing $4.4 billion to combat the nationwide opioid crisis. This means more prevention programs, better treatment, and training for the workforce to ensure our healthcare professionals aren't making problems worse. Finally, the last part of this agreement that I would like to highlight is what we are doing for our workforce programs. This bill invests in students, the future of America, those looking for workforce training and working families. Included is: $10.1 billion for Head Start, which provides literacy programs to young children in working families; $5.3 billion for childcare and development block grants to provide childcare assistance to low-income families. We celebrate that mothers will finally have the support that they need to work and deliver for their families; $160 million for apprenticeship grants to connect businesses to workers; $1.3 billion for career and technical education; and, An increase to the maximum Pell grant to help our students keep pace with the rising cost of college. This is a good bill. This is a bipartisan bill. This is a bill that should be signed into law. I urge the President to look at what a bipartisan agreement looks like and take ``yes'' for an answer. The last thing any of us want is yet another government shutdown. Let's prevent that today. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. TORRES

Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the House Amendment to S. 2497, the Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act. As Israel faces growing threats from Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas, this bill reaffirms the United States' strong belief that Israel has the right to defend herself and ensures that Israel has the means to do so. Passage of this bill will send a powerful message to Israel's adversaries: the United States will continue to stand with Israel. I will note that this bill is appropriately named for my good friend, Congresswoman Ileana Ros- Lehtinen, who as we all know is departing at the end of this Congress. Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen has been a strong supporter of Israel, a champion of democracy across the world, and one of this chamber's true believers in the ideal of bipartisan foreign policy. So I thank Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen for her leadership, and I urge all my colleagues to support this important measure.

Mrs. TORRES

Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.