Lauren Underwood

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, I unintentionally recorded a nay vote for roll call No. 303 today. I intended to vote yea and I support the amendment. Amendment No. 58 Offered by Ms. Ocasio-Cortez

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chair, had I been present, I would have voted ``Yea'' on rollcall No. 313 (Porter #67). Amendment No. 68 Offered by Ms. Mucarsel-Powell

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, the Veterans' Care Quality Transparency Act. With Memorial Day just around the corner, I am humbled to see these bipartisan efforts to bring forward legislation that will help all veterans receive the care that they have earned through their service to our Nation. I am so pleased to see the chairman's focus on ensuring access to healthcare for veterans, particularly women veterans, who face unique challenges navigating a VA system originally designed to serve men. I am committed to working to make needed improvements to the VA by working with my colleagues on the Servicewomen and Women Veterans Congressional Caucus and on the Women Veterans Task Force. I am also pleased to see this bipartisan, wide-ranging focus on veterans' mental health and suicide prevention. Our work, however, has just begun. We have an urgent responsibility to continue to fight for the highest standards of care on behalf of veterans. Despite much good work by the VA and significant Federal investment, the veteran suicide rate hasn't gone down. We must empower the VA to find innovative, effective ways to end this crisis. That is why I have introduced this bill, which will address a vital but overlooked part of veteran suicide prevention. The bill directs the GAO to evaluate the effectiveness of agreements that the Department of Veterans Affairs has with outside providers for mental healthcare and suicide prevention services. Expanding access to care for veterans struggling with mental health or with thoughts of suicide is an essential part of reducing veteran suicide rates, and partnering with providers outside the VA is just one way to do that. But there just isn't enough data on the ability of these outside providers to meet the high standards of care we expect from the VA. All veterans deserve access to convenient and high-quality healthcare, and it is unacceptable that outside providers are not currently held to the same high standards as the VA. The mission of the VA is undermined each time a veteran receives substandard care. My bill would help ensure outside providers are held to the standard of providing high-quality mental healthcare and suicide prevention services. Our efforts to stop veteran suicide need to focus on wider, better informed, and data-driven paths to tangible results so that we can save lives. This bill is about increasing transparency so that we can ensure that those who have served our Nation are not left behind when they return home. I am grateful to my colleagues on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs who have reaffirmed their commitment to this issue and who have acted so quickly to respond to the veteran suicide crisis with the focus and resources it deserves. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bill.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of this bipartisan bill. I thank Representative Schrier, an amazing woman, pediatrician, and fellow member of our freshman class, for leading this bipartisan effort. Preventing child abuse is an issue that is front-of-mind for our community in Illinois' 14th District, with the recent death of AJ Freund, a 5-year-old boy from Crystal Lake, who was tragically killed. AJ's heartbreaking death was a result of a system that failed him. I am committed to honoring his life with action. Child abuse prevention is an issue that calls for big policy solutions, and this bill offers those, as my colleagues have outlined. Rates of child abuse have recently been rising as the opioid epidemic has devastated communities across the country; and children who are adopted after being removed from homes with substance abuse issues have special kinds of trauma. My bipartisan amendment, with Representative Smucker, looks out for those kids. It would allow us to track their outcomes and ensure we have the information we need to make informed policy decisions to best serve them and set them up for success. With my amendment, a Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act will help keep kids safe and make sure families get the services they need. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bill.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I am here today to tell you about Gwyn Ciesla of Aurora, Illinois. Gwyn is a wife, a mother of two, and an IT professional with two decades of experience. She is also a transgender woman. Gwyn transitioned about 2 years ago. Shortly afterward, she began interviewing for jobs to advance her career. Gwyn was met with hesitation from potential employers. On multiple occasions, recruiters were suddenly uninterested in Gwyn after they conducted in-person interviews--no follow-up, no phone calls or emails, just complete silence. This is a horrifying reality for many people in the trans community like Gwyn. A 2016 report by the National Center for Transgender Equality found roughly 30 percent of trans people have been denied a job or a promotion, or were fired, because of their gender identity. This kind of discrimination is not only hurtful and illegal, but it hurts our economy, which is why groups like the Chamber of Commerce and over 200 major corporations support the Equality Act. Gwyn is now employed, but there are so many others still forced to sit on the sidelines, keeping top talent out of our workforce. The Equality Act would ensure everyone has the opportunity to earn a living and contribute to our economy, and it would send a message that we do not allow discrimination in our country.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, May 3, I attended the visitation of 5-year-old Andrew ``AJ'' Freund. His mother and father are awaiting trial for his murder. Our community is in mourning. AJ's death is heartbreaking, and so is the system that failed him. But one key part of the foster care system is stretched beyond capacity. In the county where AJ lived, 40 percent of children must leave the county to be placed in foster homes, which can have adverse impacts. The need for foster care in Illinois grew by 20 percent between 2017 and 2018, while the number of foster homes is decreasing at the fastest rate in the country. Local agencies are reviewing the policies surrounding AJ's death, but Congress must act as well. Here are two things that I am doing and that our colleagues can do as well to prevent another tragedy like AJ. First, join me as a member of the Congressional Foster Youth Caucus to support people to become foster parents and to place children into stable homes. Second, seek data-informed solutions. This week, I championed a bipartisan amendment to the Child Abuse and Treatment Act, CAPTA, to study the effect of parental substance use disorders on children removed from a family. I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting foster youth and families across this country. We must all work to ensure tragedies like AJ's death never happen again.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Speaker, this coming Sunday, millions of Americans will celebrate Mother's Day. While I look forward to celebrating Mother's Day and honoring my own mom, I know that mothers deserve more than to be celebrated. They deserve safe pregnancies and births, and healthy lives for themselves and their babies. In the 14th Congressional District of Illinois, we are committed to this cause. This past weekend, I joined constituents and Medela employees in McHenry County at the March for Babies 5K, which raised tens of thousands of dollars to improve the health of moms and babies. This could not come at a more critical time. The maternal mortality rate in the U.S. has more than doubled over the last 30 years. It is a crisis. Underlying this crisis are alarming disparities. Black women are nearly four times more likely than White women, and more than twice as likely than women of other races, to die from preventable, pregnancy- related complications. This week, I joined Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and my Black Maternal Health Caucus cofounder, Congresswoman Alma Adams, to address this crisis by introducing the Healthy MOMMIES Act. The Healthy MOMMIES Act would expand access to essential health services to improve outcomes for mothers and eliminate disparities in morbidity and mortality for moms.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, is an industry comprised of physicists, chemical and biomedical engineers, and professionals creating and developing innovative technologies. Demand for workers in these fields is high, but women remain underrepresented, especially in engineering and computer sciences. According to a study by the National Girls Collaborative, women make up nearly 50 percent of the overall workforce but less than 30 percent of careers in STEM. Women have made tremendous strides in this field over the last few decades, but women's underrepresentation in STEM limits discoveries and holds back our economy. Today I want to tell Members about an outstanding woman in my district who is paving the way for women in STEM. Aria Soha from Batavia, Illinois, works as the installation coordinator for the Short-Baseline Neutrino Program at Fermi National Laboratory. Aria was an outstanding student in math throughout school and chose to major in physics her second year of college at Carnegie Mellon University. In college, Aria worked relentlessly to find research opportunities and got the chance to build microwave telescopes, tools to examine high-energy radio waves that are hard to observe from the ground. After graduating, Aria accepted a job at Fermi Lab, a world-class research facility we are proud of in the 14th District. There are so many hidden figures in STEM, and I am proud to shine a bright light on the strong, smart women in the 14th District leading and making a difference in our community.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of this amendment, which I coauthored with my colleague from Washington. A female pediatrician and female nurse working together to write legislation, this has literally never happened before in this body. Our amendment ensures that trauma and behavioral health specialists are included as healthcare professionals in the section of this bill intended to strengthen our healthcare system's response to domestic violence. Behavioral healthcare, of course, includes mental health as well as treatment for substance abuse disorders. Both are particularly important to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. Mental healthcare can be lifesaving for domestic violence survivors. Survivors are three times more likely to meet criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder. They are also more likely to have suicidal thoughts and to attempt suicide. Mothers who experience domestic violence are nearly twice as likely to develop post-partum depression than those who don't. Access for treatment for substance abuse is also critical for domestic violence survivors. Survivors experience substance abuse disorders at rates two to six times higher than average. Violence against women isn't just a women's issue. It is a children's issue, it is a men's issue, it is a family issue, and it is an economic issue. That is why it is so important that our healthcare system take a comprehensive approach to its response. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support our amendment.

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, the recent Federal Government shutdown was the longest in our Nation's history. It was reckless, and it was dangerous. It hurt our Nation's security, it hurt Federal workers, and it hurt our most vulnerable populations, including survivors of domestic violence and abuse. My amendment would direct the Department of Justice to report to Congress the effects of the shutdown on DOJ's efforts to disburse VAWA and VOCA funding. This funding provides services to prevent and respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. This amendment is in direct response to months of conversations with domestic violence shelters and agencies that serve my community in Illinois's 14th District and to the urgent need in all of our districts. I am thankful to my colleagues from Illinois and Pennsylvania for their support as cosponsors. Over the past month, we have worked to understand how the shutdown affected our ability to respond to domestic violence. Let's be clear. Everyone wants domestic violence victims to get the support they need. But that didn't happen during the shutdown, and we don't know why not. We have been told there was about a 2-week period at the beginning of the shutdown where DOJ employees who help process VAWA and VOCA grants weren't able to work. We know grantees were warned about a delay in processing their funding, and we have been told that those DOJ employees were expected and allowed to return to work at some point during the shutdown. But that is not enough. We need to know what happened so that we can make sure it doesn't happen again. I want to share the stories that I am hearing from shelters in my district about how the shutdown affected them, because their experiences are unacceptable. Family Shelter Service, a domestic violence agency, serves my constituents in DuPage County, Illinois. During the shutdown, they had to turn away 138 members of my community who were seeking safety at the shelter. Because of the shutdown, Family Shelter Service had to hold off on filling four open positions for employees that were funded by VAWA and VOCA. Three of these positions were for child counselors. The shelter reports that this directly led to a decrease in the number of children whom they were able to help. I also represent McHenry County in Illinois. It is a big county, but it only has one domestic violence agency called Turning Point. In 2018 alone, Turning Point served more than 1,700 people, and 170 of those were children. Fifteen percent of Turning Point's funding comes from VOCA. They shared with me that because of the shutdown, they had to stop referring survivors for individual counseling because of the lack of resources. Now, Illinois has some supplemental sources of domestic violence funding, but many States rely almost completely on Federal funding. Failure to maintain and protect these Federal funding streams literally puts lives at risk. Resources for domestic violence survivors and the organizations that help them are already stretched too far and too thin. It is our fiscal and moral responsibility to ensure that their funding is not interrupted again. Mr. Chairman, I urge all of my colleagues to support my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Chair, let me be very clear: Equal pay for equal work has never been a reality for women in America. Congress recognized this for the first time 56 years ago, before I was even born, when the Equal Pay Act was passed. This was a foundational piece of civil rights legislation. But a half century later, it is clear that the Equal Pay Act isn't working for everyone, and it isn't working fast enough. In my district, for every dollar that men in Naperville or Batavia or McHenry make, women make 71 cents. That is the worst pay gap in Illinois. It means we have to work at least 10 years longer to earn the same lifetime income. At this rate, every woman in America wouldn't make equal pay for doing the same work for almost 200 years. In my community in Illinois, the 14th Congressional District isn't willing to wait that long, and neither are the House Democrats. That is why I am standing here today as a cosponsor and strong supporter of the Paycheck Fairness Act. There is no point in a woman's life, from childhood to retirement, where the gender pay gap doesn't hurt her. The Paycheck Fairness Act would take huge, critical steps to fix that. The Committee on Education and Labor held hearings on the act, and we heard from experts how this bill would do things like lift children out of poverty, contribute billions of dollars to America's economy, and make sure women have a safer, healthier retirement. Madam Chair, I include in the Record a letter signed by 315 State, local, and national organizations that support the Paycheck Fairness Act. Vote for the Paycheck Fairness Act March 25, 2019. Dear Representative: As members of a broad coalition of organizations that promote economic opportunity for women and vigorous enforcement of antidiscrimination laws, we strongly urge you to vote for the Paycheck Fairness Act when it comes to the House floor for a vote. Despite federal and state equal pay laws, gender pay gaps persist. This legislation offers a much needed update to the Equal Pay Act of 1963 by providing new tools to battle the pervasive pay gaps and to challenge discrimination. In January, we celebrated two major accomplishments. First, an historic number of women were sworn into the 116th Congress, many of whom--along with their male colleagues--ran and won on issues central to the economic well-being of families. Second, on January 29, 2019, we commemorated the tenth anniversary of the enactment of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. That vital law rectified the Supreme Court's harmful decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. The law helps to ensure that individuals subjected to unlawful compensation discrimination are able to have their day in court and effectively assert their rights under federal antidiscrimination laws. But the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, critical as it is, is only one step on the path to ensuring women receive equal pay for equal work. There is no more fitting way to begin this historic Congress than by making real, concrete progress in ensuring all women receive fair pay. The Paycheck Fairness Act updates and strengthens the Equal Pay Act of 1963 to ensure that it provides robust protection against sex-based pay discrimination. Among other provisions, this comprehensive bill bars retaliation against workers who voluntarily discuss or disclose their wages. It closes loopholes that have allowed employers to pay women less than men for the same work without any important business justification related to the job. It ensures women can receive the same robust remedies for sex-based pay discrimination that are currently available to those subjected to discrimination based on race and ethnicity. It prohibits employers from relying on salary history in determining future pay, so that pay discrimination does not follow women from job to job. And it also provides much needed training and technical assistance, as well as data collection and research. Women are increasingly the primary or co-breadwinner in their families and cannot afford to be shortchanged any longer. Women working full-time, year-round are typically paid only 80 cents for every dollar paid to men, and when we compare women of color to white, non-Hispanic men, the pay gaps are even larger. Moms are paid less than dads. And even when controlling for factors, such as education and experience, the pay gaps persist and start early in women's careers and contribute to a wealth gap that follows them throughout their lifetimes. These pay gaps can be addressed only if workers have the legal tools necessary to challenge discrimination and when employers are provided with effective incentives and technical assistance to comply with the law. It's time to take the next step toward achieving equal pay. We urge you to vote for the Paycheck Fairness Act and encourage your colleagues to do the same, taking up the cause of Lilly Ledbetter and all those who have fought for equal pay. Sincerely, 9to5, National Association of Working Women: 9to5 California; 9to5 Colorado; 9to5 Georgia; 9to5 Wisconsin. A Better Balance ACCESS Women's Health Justice Advocacy and Training Center American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Unions (AFL-CIO):

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Chair, I also want to acknowledge the hard work and leadership of Chairman Scott, Representative DeLauro, and committee staff on the issue of equal pay. This is a bipartisan bill with support from both parties. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting the Paycheck Fairness Act and take this important step toward ending gender-based discrimination at work.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Speaker, Saturday, March 23, we celebrated the ninth anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which has expanded health insurance to over 20 million people in the last 5 years. But quality health insurance remains unaffordable and out of reach for far too many Americans. Today, I introduced the Health Care Affordability Act to help fix that and reduce premiums for Americans who purchase private health plans through the marketplace. My legislation would cut premiums by hundreds or thousands of dollars per year for more than 10 million people. It does this by increasing the tax credits people get to make premiums more affordable and allowing more people to qualify for tax credits. This important improvement would guarantee middle-class consumers would pay no more than 8\1/2\ percent of their income on premiums. This would be a huge help to families. For example, in my district, a typical family of four currently pays $1,741 per month for marketplace coverage. With my bill, their monthly premiums would drop by nearly half. A typical 60-year-old couple in my district making $80,000 currently pays over a third of their monthly income for marketplace coverage. My legislation would reduce their monthly premiums by over $1,700. This legislation moves us forward by making lower cost coverage available to at least 9 million uninsured Americans, while reducing premiums for an additional 10 million Americans. Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in making quality health insurance more affordable by cosponsoring this important legislation.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Speaker, I rise today on International Women's Day to honor a woman who has been a pillar of strength in my community during a particularly difficult time. Last month, in Aurora, Illinois, we had five neighbors killed in a terrible act of gun violence. If you watched the news following that tragedy, you saw a woman, Chief of Police Kristen Ziman, exuding strength, compassion, resolve, and leadership following an event we never imagined would happen in our community. Chief Ziman leads the second biggest police department in our State of Illinois--no small feat considering that there are only 219 female chiefs in the more than 14,000 police departments nationwide. Chief Ziman's compassionate leadership and barrier-breaking approach to law enforcement inspires us all across the Fox Valley region. We truly are Aurora strong. Her strength and her service to our community makes us so proud, and I look forward to watching all the little girls in our community grow up knowing they can be anything they want to be, from a police chief to a Congresswoman, because they grew up seeing it firsthand. There are women like Chief Ziman lifting all of our communities all over the 14th District and all over our country, and I am so glad to celebrate them today.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Speaker, everyone deserves to feel safe in their community, whether they are at work, at home, at school, or at church. Less than 2 weeks ago, five people, four of whom were my constituents, left their homes for work at the Henry Pratt Company in Aurora, Illinois, and never returned. Their lives were taken by a horrific act of gun violence. I am committed to honoring the lives of victims of gun violence through action. H.R. 1112 is a commonsense and bipartisan bill that will help address a deficiency in background check laws by allowing law enforcement to conduct a thorough background check. I am proud to cosponsor an amendment that will help ensure this legislation improves the safety of victims of domestic violence, domestic abuse, dating partner violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Yesterday was the first time in more than two decades that the U.S. House of Representatives passed a major gun safety bill, and today we have an opportunity to take a further step. H.R. 1112 will help save innocent lives, and I look forward to working on commonsense legislation that balances protecting our gun rights and ensuring the safety of our community.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Chair, everyone deserves to feel safe in their community, whether they are at work, at home, at school, or at church. Less than 2 weeks ago, five people, four of whom were my constituents, left their homes for work at the Henry Pratt Company in Aurora, Illinois, and never returned. Their lives were taken by a horrific act of gun violence. I am committed to honoring the lives of the victims of gun violence through action. H.R. 1112 is an important bill that will help address a deficiency in background check laws by allowing law enforcement to conduct a thorough background check. I am proud to cosponsor an amendment that will help ensure this legislation improves the safety of victims of domestic violence, domestic abuse, dating partner violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Yesterday was the first time in more than two decades that this U.S. House of Representatives passed a major gun safety bill, and today we have an opportunity to take a further step. H.R. 1112 will help save innocent lives, and I look forward to working on commonsense legislation that balances protecting our gun rights and ensuring the safety of our communities.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to take a stand in support of H.R. 8, which takes a critical first step to ensure that every person who purchases a gun undergoes a background check. People should have the right to feel safe from gun violence in their community, including at home, at work, and at school. Unfortunately, that is not the case today in our country. Time and time again, our communities have experienced gun violence due to the absence of commonsense gun safety measures. Only 12 days ago, five people, four of whom were my constituents, left their homes for work at the Henry Pratt Company in Aurora, Illinois, and never returned. Their lives were taken by an unspeakably horrific act of gun violence. It is time to take immediate action to help safeguard our communities from gun violence, and today, for the first time in more than two decades, the House of Representatives will vote on a major gun safety bill, and I will support it. H.R. 8 is a strong step toward making our communities safer, and I look forward to continuing to work on commonsense legislation that balances gun rights with the safety of our communities.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, 10 days ago, five people, four of whom were my constituents, left their homes for work at the Henry Pratt Company in Aurora, Illinois, and never returned. Their lives were taken by an unspeakably horrible act, gun violence, which happens heartbreakingly frequently in this country. As we consider legislation this week that is a critical first step towards preventing gun violence, I would like to take a few moments to honor the lives our community lost this month. I wish to remember Russell Beyer. Proud chair of his union and a 20- year employee of Henry Pratt, Russell was the father of two and a steadfast Patriots fan. We remember Clayton Parks, a Northern Illinois University grad whose wife, Abby, describes as an incredible father to their young son, Axel. We remember Josh Pinkard. ``I want to shout from the rooftops about how amazing Josh was,'' his wife, Terra, wrote about a man who loved God, family, and college football. We remember Trevor Wehner, a college student at Northern Illinois University, killed on the very first day of his internship. He was described by a friend as someone who would go out of his way for others. We remember Vicente Juarez. The patriarch of a tight-knit family, Vicente was a caring husband, father, and grandfather to eight. His neighbors loved him for his efforts ridding the neighborhood of dandelions each summer. We will never forget our five neighbors, and we will never forget the bravery of law enforcement and first responders who rushed toward the violence and undoubtedly saved countless lives. May we honor them with our actions, and may our community come back stronger than ever before.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Speaker, this week, we voted for the tenth time to end the shutdown. For people in the 14th District of Illinois, the effects of this Trump shutdown are real, and they are painful. This weekend, I visited a family shelter for survivors of domestic violence that does incredible work serving my community. This shelter would like to expand to serve even more people, but funding uncertainty around reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act makes that impossible for them. Domestic violence survivors are casualties of this shutdown. This weekend, I also met an entrepreneur who is working to open a pet care company with her husband. He even left his job so they can realize their dream, but they are currently waiting on a Small Business Administration loan they need to open their business. It is sitting on a furloughed worker's desk. Entrepreneurs are casualties of the shutdown. This week, I met with air traffic controllers in my district, people who keep passengers and freight moving safely through the skies. They are working 6-day weeks and about to miss a second paycheck. They told me they look after their colleagues by asking: How long do you have left? How long do they have left before they miss a mortgage payment or a healthcare bill, or max out their credit cards? These are hardworking, responsible people, many with at least 3 months' savings, but they are entering their second month without a paycheck. The financial and psychological stress of this shutdown is cruel, and, sadly, it won't be the only consequence. The shutdown has closed the air traffic controller training academy, which will diminish the pipeline of people we need to keep air travel safe and efficient in the future. Our future is a casualty of the Trump shutdown. Madam Speaker, I sincerely hope our Republican colleagues will join us in reopening the government. The alternative is too painful for too many.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, this week, we will vote for the tenth time to end the shutdown. I sincerely hope that this is the last time. For the people in the 14th Congressional District of Illinois, the effects of this shutdown are real and they are painful. This weekend, I visited a family shelter for survivors of domestic violence that does incredible work serving my community. This shelter would like to expand to serve more people, but funding uncertainty around reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act makes that impossible for them. Domestic violence survivors are a casualty of this senseless shutdown. This weekend, I met an entrepreneur who is working to open a pet care company with her husband. He even left his job so they could realize their dream. They are currently waiting on a Small Business Administration loan they need to open their business. It is sitting on a furloughed worker's desk. Entrepreneurs are a casualty of this shutdown. This week, I met with air traffic controllers in my district, people who keep passengers and freight moving safely through the skies. They are working 6 days a week and about to miss a second paycheck. They told me they look after their colleagues by asking: How long do you have left? How long do they have left before they miss a mortgage payment, a healthcare bill, or max out their credit cards? Mr. Speaker, I sincerely hope the Senate will take up one of these bills and reopen the government.

Ms. UNDERWOOD

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

Ms. UNDERWOOD

Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, the people of the Illinois 14th elected me as their Representative to protect their access to healthcare coverage and to make healthcare and prescription drugs more affordable. I am a nurse, and I have a preexisting condition and so I know, personally, how critically important having high-quality affordable healthcare is for people. Today, we are taking an essential step to protect access to affordable coverage from the GOP's cruel lawsuit which seeks to destroy the Affordable Care Act and its lifesaving protection. My community sent me here to use my voice and my vote as their neighbor and as a nurse, and I am proud to vote today to protect people with preexisting conditions; to prohibit insurance companies from imposing lifetime and annual limits on health coverage; and to preserve young adults' ability to remain on their parents' insurance until age 26, and more. I commend my colleague, Mr. Allred, and am proud to join my Democratic colleagues in wasting no time delivering on our promise to defeat Republican attacks on the Affordable Care Act, and to fight for the people, and to protect Americans with preexisting conditions.