Frederica Wilson

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert my statement in the Record that the House should focus on the real priorities of America, like jobs, jobs, jobs, instead of another attack on women's health care.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, this week we received good news. On Tuesday, 200 girls and 93 women were rescued from Boko Haram camps by the Nigerian military in the Sambisa Forest. Yesterday, another group, 160 women and children, was rescued in the same forest. These reports bring me great hope. My heart goes out to these women, girls, and their families, who have experienced their worst nightmare. I am hopeful that the Chibok girls, who were kidnapped over a year ago, are a part of these ongoing rescue missions by the Nigerian Army. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked my fellow Congresswomen to wear red in honor of the missing girls and vote together in of the well of the House of Representatives. Together, we called attention to the atrocities by Boko Haram, called for the return of all of the kidnapped girls, and called for Nigerian leaders to be held accountable by the world. It takes the political will of the Nigerian Government and the conviction to do what is right to eradicate Boko Haram and end their tragic reign of terror. We hope to wear red every Wednesday. I will not stop speaking, stop tweeting and fighting on behalf of these girls, their families, until the girls are safely returned. Tweet bringbackourgirls and tweet #joinrep.wilson.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 1- year anniversary of the tragic kidnapping of 276 girls in Nigeria. I welcome Patience and Saw to Washington, two of the girls who are with us all day. I thank all of the Members of Congress for taking part in this sad, sad anniversary. We are wearing red and purple today to note the horrible atrocity. How much longer do we have to wait before the girls are returned to their families? How many more people must die before Boko Haram is defeated? How many more families must be separated? How many more women will be raped? Mr. Speaker, Boko Haram must be stopped. We must do everything we can to help the Nigerian Government in bringing back our girls. We must continue to march, continue to demonstrate, continue to protest, continue to pass legislation, and continue to tweet #bringbackourgirls and #followrepwilson until our girls are returned home.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, today marks 1 year since the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in Nigeria--1 year, 365 days, nonstop--by Boko Haram. UNICEF is reporting that 800,000 children have been forced to flee Boko Haram's campaign of violence in Nigeria. Their Missing Childhoods reports that most of the girls remain in captivity, scores more of their peers have since gone missing, and the number of children who are displaced is staggering. The one bright spot is many of the girls have escaped, and 10 of them are in Virginia. When I went to Nigeria and met with those girls, I said: What can we do to help you? They said: We want to go to school. As a school principal, that made me proud because education is the key to all of the Nation's ills; and, in spite of their trials and tribulations, they still wanted to go to school. Boko Haram means Western education is sin, so we must support our girls and lift them up and let them know that we love them. Boko Haram has reached out to ISIS, and ISIS has responded. A marriage between Boko Haram and ISIS is a marriage made in hell. Tweet, tweet, tweet #bringbackourgirls. Tweet, tweet, tweet #followrepwilson. Tweet, tweet all day long.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, as we mark the 50th anniversary of the ESEA, we reflect on the simple yet powerful promises that are at the center of this civil rights law, promises made to all American children--a promise that no matter where you live or what you look like you will not be ignored, a promise that no matter what resources you have you will not be undervalued, a promise that, no matter what, you deserve a quality education. The ESEA was a substantial step towards fulfilling these promises, but we still have work to do. As we work towards reauthorization, we cannot break those promises. We cannot break our promise to make every child count by failing to gather information on student achievement for all children. We cannot break our promise to value every child by failing to target funding at the schools that need it the most. We cannot break our promise to uphold the civil rights of all children to have a quality education. Because all children are worthy, we cannot break our promise. Thank you for all that you do on behalf of our children. They are our future.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, April 14 will mark 1 year since Boko Haram kidnapped over 200 Nigerian schoolgirls. Since the schoolgirls' kidnapping, Boko Haram has continued to torment and commit atrocities. Boko Haram has declared its allegiance to ISIS. They are beheading, raping, and stoning their victims, ramping up their use of social media, and making surprise attacks to inflict maximum casualties and spread fear. Mr. Speaker, just this morning, ABC News reported that Boko Haram is using hundreds of civilians as human shields, and the terrorist group reportedly abducted another 500 women and children just 48 hours before the Nigerian Presidential elections. Nigerian officials remain very concerned about Boko Haram's impact on Saturday's Presidential election. President Obama issued a statement calling for calm in Nigeria. We cannot stand by, Mr. Speaker, while Boko Haram aligns itself with ISIS. Mr. Speaker, I call on my fellow Members of the House to join me in condemning the actions of Boko Haram. We will be watching what happens in Nigeria closely. And by tweeting #bringbackourgirls, #joinrepwilson, the world will know we have not forgotten. Tweet, tweet, tweet.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Thank you, Representative Woodall, for this honor and this pleasure. I am indebted to you forever. Thank you. I just finished making a speech about Boko Haram and girls who were kidnapped in Nigeria. Five of them are in the gallery today, and I thought it not robbery to recognize them and ask you who are listening to please tweet #bringbackourgirls and tweet #joinrepwilson. These young ladies were kidnapped, and they had the courage--the courage--to come to America to continue their education. They are right there in the gallery. Thank you, Representative Woodall.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, a special thank you to Speaker Boehner for realizing the urgency of this bill. We just got this information, and I went to the Speaker and he redlined the bill and brought it to the floor. I am proud to have my Florida colleagues here with me: a legend in her own time, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Mr. Curbelo, who is new. He has really jumped into Congress and has been so helpful in all that we do. It is a pleasure for the time to be managed by Andre Carson, who himself is a police officer and who understands who we consider a role model in that field. I thank you so much for being here today for this important bill. I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1092, which proposes to designate the Federal building located at 2030 Southwest 145th Avenue in Miramar, Florida, in the heart of my district, as the Benjamin P. Grogan and Jerry L. Dove Federal Building. This new 475,000-square-foot facility is a state-of-the-art office building and is developed in accordance with the 2030 Zero Environmental Footprint project goal, according to the architects. This facility is a part of the GSA's Design Excellence Program, and in the words of the architect, it ``expresses the dignity, enterprise, and stability of the United States Government, while the landscape restores the native environment by reintroducing wetlands and vegetation typical of the Everglades.'' The facility is LEED certified and is designed to reduce the consumption of potable water by 95 percent. There are also solar panels on the roof of the annex and garage that will provide renewable electricity. The building will be high tech and be able to support over 1,000 employees. There are a few major points that I want to mention about the building. First, the building is aesthetically gorgeous and far from what you would consider your typical government building. It sheds the model that government buildings always place function over form. The building stands out from the neighboring buildings so much that most people don't know that it is the FBI's new field office. Also, the construction cost was approximately $8 million below the budgeted amount, and this was achieved through the operational efficiency of the contractor Hensel Phelps, the FBI, and GSA. The project provided a boost to the local economy by creating hundreds of jobs for the residents of my community. The employees will be able to give back to the economy--which is so great--by spending money in the city of Miramar. Now, Mr. Speaker, we have an opportunity to create an even stronger personal connection with the local community. We are naming the building in honor of Special Agents Benjamin P. Grogan and Jerry L. Dove, members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who died valiantly on Friday, April 11, 1986, in what is still considered the bloodiest gun battle in the storied history of the FBI. Most men and women in law enforcement leave their homes for work knowing that there is a possibility that they may not return, but I don't know if that was on the minds of Agents Grogan and Dove as they left their homes on April 11, 1986. I do know that it was an unusually cool and breezy spring morning in south Florida. I do know that Miami in the 1980s was plagued by crime and graphic violence. This period has been chronicled in media reports and dramatically portrayed on the TV show ``Miami Vice'' and in movies like ``Scarface.'' I know that Agents Grogan and Dove knew about this violence when they said good-bye to their families, picked up their badges and guns, and left home on the morning of April 11, 1986. Yet they still answered the charge to protect their community in the face of this danger. I know that Agent Grogan was a company man. I know that he had 25 years of dedicated service to the Bureau and was 1 year from retirement. His wife was also an employee of the Bureau. I know that Agent Dove had only 4 years of service in the Bureau after completing law school, but he was living his boyhood dream, according to his family. I have their photos displayed here so that you can see the men we are proposing to honor. I wanted to have their pictures so that you can see the bravery in their eyes. I know that their bravery was the motivation for their joining a team of fellow agents on the morning of April 11, 1986, to tail a vehicle with two suspects on board whom they thought were connected to a string of violent bank robberies. The agents attempted to hail the driver of the vehicle to pull over, and when that failed, the agents strategically cornered the vehicle, which came to a crashing halt by hitting a tree. A gun battle immediately ensued. There was a barrage of bullets. I can only imagine how the crackle from the guns cut through the normally peaceful morning of that south Dade neighborhood. Yet our brave men of the Federal Bureau of Investigation returned fire. Their fire hit the suspects several times but, unfortunately, those weapons were not powerful enough to stop them. On the other hand, the weapons that were used by the suspects were so powerful that the agents were injured by misses that tore pieces of metal from their vehicles. However, those agents continued to battle on. Those agents knew that this could be that day which they prayed to avoid as they said goodbye to their loved ones and left their home, but they still battled on. I can only imagine the frustration of Special Agents Richard Manauzzi, Gordon McNeill, Edmundo Mireles, Gilbert Orrantia, John Hanlon, Ronald Risner, and Grogan and Dove as they shot dozens of bullets into the suspects' direction and the high-powered rifle continued to return fire, but they still battled on. In a desperate attempt to flee, the suspects tried to commandeer Grogan and Dove's vehicle. When they came around to the side of the vehicle, Grogan and Dove were on the ground in a defensive position they had taken to battle the suspects. It is reported that the suspects shot both agents with a high-powered rifle at close range. Shortly after, the suspects were themselves fatally shot by Agent Edmundo Mireles. Agent Mireles made a very impressive statement about his role in that tragic event. He said: I knew that I was going to die, but I was going to do my best to make sure that the suspects didn't get away. When the dust cleared, two agents lay dead on that spring morning, and five were seriously injured. I know one other thing: that if for no other reason, we are here in Congress to honor, commend, and decorate those Americans who live up to the ideals upon which this great country was founded. Mr. Speaker, I implore you and my colleagues in Congress to join me, the Transportation Committee, and my Florida colleagues, and lift up Special Agent Benjamin Grogan and Special Agent Dove from that street in south Miami and place their names high, where the world can know that we are proud of their sacrifice for their Nation. It is only fitting that these names should be placed on the same mantle with the letters FBI because Special Agents Grogan and Dove embody the motto for which the agency has become known: fidelity, bravery, and integrity. God bless the FBI, and God bless America.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Thank you, Ranking Member Scott. Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Review Act is yet another attack on employees' rights to organize and to limit the National Labor Relations Board. The NLRB should have the ability to safeguard those rights and protect our Nation's workers from unfair labor practices. It is outrageous that the rights of employees are attacked, particularly at a time when we have a jobs deficit, a shrinking middle class, and are still struggling to recover from the Great Recession. The NLRB has made modest attempts to modernize its election procedures and reduce unnecessary litigation and delay in the election process. These are commonsense fixes that should not be controversial. The CRA would freeze in place the Board's current flawed election procedure. The Board would be prohibited from adopting rules to utilize new technology or modernize its procedures. The NLRB is an expert agency and should be trusted to determine the appropriate use of electronic voting or rules to safeguard ballot secrecy. Furthermore, I am not aware of any other government agency that has to seek Congress' permission before modernizing its rules for voting that takes place under its jurisdiction. Dismantling the NLRB would only serve to weaken, undermine, and jeopardize the economic security of the middle class. It is bad for business, bad for families, and bad for our economy. In fact, the National Labor Relations Board is the last line of defense for workers. We shouldn't be attacking our Nation's employees; we should be supporting them, investing in them, and protecting them. Let's come together to create jobs, protect the middle class, and make the investments we need to grow our economy.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Hear ye, hear ye. Wake the town and tell the people that ISIS and Boko Haram are teaming up for terror. Boko Haram plus ISIS equals a ``marriage from hell,'' says CNN. Mr. Speaker, Boko Haram has courted ISIS for months, but this is the first time that the intelligence community has acknowledged that ISIS has responded to the overtures in a way that could pave the road for the two to collaborate. We cannot forget the people of Nigeria. We cannot forget our school girls who were kidnapped. We cannot forget those awful unions between ISIS and Boko Haram. Mr. Speaker, we must continue to tweet to keep the reports of corruption, election shenanigans, and sheer terror in the national spotlight. Tweet #bringbackourgirls and #joinrepwilson. Tweet, tweet, tweet.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. In Miami-Dade County, I have a program called the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project. It is a program of Black and Hispanic boys who are trying to grow up into good men. The Friday before Bloody Sunday, over 500 12th graders--graduating seniors--from that program went to a movie to watch a private screening of the movie ``Selma.'' I want to give a special shout-out to Nancy Sewell, who is the mother of Terri Sewell. As I watched the two of them on C-SPAN, MSNBC, and CNN, I was so proud of them. These boys were prepared by men who experienced the civil rights battles and know the bitter history and violent battles we had to endure. I wish I had the resources to take all 500 of them to Selma. During the movie, we planned a Twitter war. Thousands participated all across the Nation. Movie stars, rappers, sports legends, and the White House joined in the Twitter war. These boys will never be the same. They were visibly moved; and their applause, tears, hugs, and tweets proved their transformation. The next day, on that Saturday, when the President spoke, the Twitter war continued. It was based at my home. So many of them watched and marveled at Representative John Lewis, a card-carrying, sworn-in member of the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project. They watched so proudly as he introduced the first Black President of the United States. In fact, he is the only President that they know. They are beyond proud. Why did I do this? I wanted as many students as possible to experience the importance of voting, and I am not finished. All 8,000 of them will see the movie as soon as it is released for distribution. This generation of children needs to know the importance of voting. They need to know what their forefathers had to endure so that they could vote. When I was on the Miami-Dade County School Board in 1996, we set up a process in partnership with the department of elections. Every eligible student is registered to vote in the 11th grade, and when they graduate and turn 18, their voter registration card is mailed to their homes. This is a policy that all school districts all across America should adopt. While they repair the damage to the Voting Rights Act through legislation, graduating seniors in Miami-Dade public schools--Black, White, and Hispanic--will still have the opportunity to vote. Every single one of them will vote. I hope that other school districts will adopt this policy so that children will know and understand the importance of voting. It is their voice. God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, let us as a people march on until victory is won.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 107, had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Chair, as the designee of Mr. Duffy, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Chairman, this amendment provides for elementary students reading below grade level to utilize intensive care reading labs to improve their reading efficiency. I am well aware of the shortcomings of H.R. 5 and its failure to make the improvements necessary to bring our educational system into the 21st century. The bill falls short of providing quality education for many of our young students and has, in fact, left many of our students behind. Students need enriching learning environments, individualized instruction, well-trained teachers, and positive reinforcement to support their educational development. Mr. Chairman, this amendment I have before you today provides for just that approach to helping students improve their reading proficiency. First, it provides for individualized reading instruction through intensive care reading labs, in addition to their normal reading instruction in schools, helping improve students' literacy early in their education. In these labs, students will be taught by highly trained teachers who work with students in small numbers to improve their literacy and reading comprehension. If children can read on grade level by grade three, they will graduate high school. Teachers in first, second, and third grade should specialize in teaching language arts, then another subgroup should specialize in math and science. They should be trained by the school district. By using this specialized approach, schools will be able to better prepare teachers and ensure students are being taught by teachers dedicated to their specific fields. In high schools, English teachers teach English, math teachers teach math. It should be the same in K-3 grades. That is why I support this amendment and why I urge all of my colleagues to vote for this amendment as well. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Chairman, this amendment requires school districts to be transparent in providing information to parents at the beginning of the school year on mandated assessments the students will have to take during the school year and any school district policy on assessment participation. As a former teacher and elementary school principal, I have seen firsthand the damage caused by the pervasive overuse of high-stakes standardized testing. For the sake of our students and our education system, we need to move towards a more balanced form of assessment that effectively measures diverse kinds of success in teaching and student learning. Unfortunately, H.R. 5 fails to address schools' excessive dependence on deeply problematic standardized tests. As someone who has dedicated decades of my career and my life to my students and their success, I can tell you that teachers do not join the profession to teach to the test; yet more and more educators are forced to spend time preparing students for tests, administering tests, and reviewing the results of those tests. By some estimates, almost one-third of a teacher's time is spent preparing students to take standardized tests. This is unacceptable. That is why this amendment is so important. By providing parents with information about the standardized tests their students will be taking and providing them with the policies regarding student participation, we begin to hold the system accountable for the dramatic overuse of these tests. It is time to end this practice of toxic overtesting. That is why I support this amendment and ask all of my colleagues to vote in favor of this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Chairman, my amendment to H.R. 5 is simple. It will provide students with the necessary resources to remain in school and graduate. I have witnessed young people who are mentored through quality in- school mentoring programs make positive choices, discover personal strength, and achieve their potential both inside and outside of the classroom. According to the National Mentoring Partnership, youth who have a meaningful relationship with an adult are five times more likely to graduate. Studies also show that these youth are 46 percent less likely than their peers to start using illegal drugs, 27 percent less likely to start drinking, 52 percent less likely to skip a day of school, and 37 percent less likely to skip a class. Young people who were at risk for not completing high school but who had a mentor were 55 percent more likely to be enrolled in college, 81 percent more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities, more than twice as likely to say they held a leadership position in a club or sports team, and 78 percent more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities. Simply put, mentoring is a proven cost-effective investment. In fact, for every $1 invested in mentoring, there is a $3 return to society. That is why it is important that we encourage States to establish and support effective dropout prevention and reentry programs that will provide necessary assistance to ensure that all of our children graduate. My amendment will provide for school dropout prevention and reentry by establishing a mechanism to collect systemic data on dropout reentry and graduation rates, while establishing a national clearing house to collect information on effective dropout prevention and reentry programs. My amendment will also provide technical assistance to State and local educational agencies, carry out national recognition programs for State and local educational agencies that raise academic achievement levels, and provide grants to local schools and agencies with dropout rates above the State's average to implement effective and sustainable dropout prevention and reentry programs. That is why I support wholeheartedly the amendment to H.R. 5. I urge a ``yes'' vote on this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I stand today in strong support of H.R. 431, a bill that will bestow the Congressional Gold Medal upon the courageous Foot Soldiers who participated in ``Bloody Sunday,'' ``Turnaround Tuesday,'' and the final March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965. As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of their displays of courage and determination, I am inspired by the thousands of citizens, from all walks of life--including my good friend and colleague, Congressman John Lewis--who came together to march for equal voting rights for future generations. I commend these brave men and women for following their conviction and sacrificing their blood, sweat, and tears to bring about the change that this country so desperately needed. However, Mr. Speaker, our work is not yet done! It was only two years ago, when the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act by ruling Section 5 unconstitutional. Since this ruling, we have seen an unprecedented number of bills introduced in state legislatures intended to restrict the precise right that the men and women we are honoring today fought to gain. Not only are minority and low-income Americans' voting rights under assault, but the persistent opportunity gaps in employment, education, life skills, and career preparation continue to make the American Dream elusive for far too many Americans. We must follow the example of these brave Foot Soldiers, and continue to fight injustice and inequality to create economic opportunities for everyone.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, last April I was horrified when hundreds of girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria because they attended school. To this day, Boko Haram continues their reign of terror. In early January, thousands of Nigerians were slaughtered by these terrorists; and these attacks continue, with thousands and thousands of civilians killed since then as well. With all of the attention focused on ISIS and al Qaeda, do not continue to neglect this issue. Mr. Speaker, we can not and must not forget about the unspeakable horrors being perpetuated by Boko Haram. Mr. Speaker, Black lives matter. That is why I am supporting the Jubilee Campaign's Education After Escape initiative, which provides scholarships to the young girls that escaped Boko Haram. I am working to support these brave young girls who, despite the horrors they witnessed, maintain dreams of success. They still want and deserve an education. Mr. Speaker, we have to support the victims of Boko Haram just like we support the victims of other terrorist groups. Mr. Speaker, we have to continue to tweet so that the world will know and understand that we are supporting those victims. Tweet #BringBackOurGirls and #JoinRepWilson. Tweet, tweet, tweet.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, since last year's kidnapping of over 200 Nigerian schoolgirls, Boko Haram's violence and attacks have not stopped. Instead, they have become more violent, more deadly, and more frequent. Mr. Speaker, last week Boko Haram attacked the Nigerian town of Baga, killing 2,000 men, women, and children. Furthermore, as recently as Sunday, there have been reports of young girls as young as 10 years old being used as suicide bombers and sent into crowded markets by Boko Haram militants. Mr. Speaker, we can no longer stand by idly and watch as innocent little girls are strapped with explosives and civilians are slaughtered by the thousands. Too many lives have been lost and innocent people murdered at the hands of those who use religion to propagate hate and oppression. My heart goes out to the victims and their families. Mr. Speaker, I call on my colleagues to join me and members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in condemning the devastating actions of Boko Haram. We must keep fighting those that would use terrorism and fear to oppress us, and we must keep tweeting, as I have for 273 days-- #BringBackOurGirls and #JoinRepWilson--to show that we have not and we will not forget. Tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 23. This legislation would reauthorize the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program, or NWIRP. The Federal Government has an important role in helping Americans prepare for and recover from natural hazards. H.R. 23 directs four Federal agencies--NIST, NSF, NOAA, and FEMA--to conduct coordinated research and development on the nature of windstorms, their effects, and on ways to mitigate their impact. The legislation also ensures that this research is translated into practice through improved building codes and emergency planning. I was born and raised in south Florida, and I am a survivor of Hurricane Andrew, so I have seen my share of severe weather. I know firsthand that natural hazards are a leading threat to American lives and America's economy. While we cannot stop a hurricane or tornado from happening, this Congress can act to make sure our communities have the tools they need to respond and recover from these disasters. We must begin by investing in preparedness and resilience. Studies of FEMA's pre-disaster mitigation program have shown that for every dollar we invest in mitigation activities we save $3 to $4 in recovery costs. I was pleased that this bill was considered in the Science Committee last Congress, and we worked in a bipartisan manner to make several improvements to the bill. I want to thank my colleagues, Chairman Smith and Mr. Neugebauer, for working across the aisle in a smooth and productive process. We worked together to increase the authorization for FEMA, the NWIRP agency tasked with taking the research conducted at other agencies and developing mitigation techniques and public outreach. Mr. Neugebauer was the lead, and I appreciate his inclusion. Additionally, we added several social science-related provisions to the bill. We cannot design effective disaster strategies without knowing how people make decisions and respond to disaster warnings. Often in a compromise, like this one, you do not get everything you would like. I would have liked to see increases in the authorization levels across the board. Unfortunately, this bill includes a lower total authorization level than what was authorized for this program in fiscal year 2008. When the last few years have been devastating years for windstorms, including Superstorm Sandy and the tornado outbreak last May, it is difficult to understand why we would cut the total authorization level for this important program. I do hope that if this bill moves forward, we will continue our bipartisan efforts and work with the Senate to perfect this bill. Nevertheless, I understand the need to reauthorize this important program that can help minimize the number of Americans who are harmed or killed by windstorm disasters and reduce the costs associated * * * I support H.R. 23 and urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the bill.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Welch for yielding me time as well as Chairman Issa and Ranking Member Cummings for their support in bringing this bill to the floor. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4030, a bill to designate the post office at 18640 NW 2nd Avenue in Miami Gardens, Florida, as the Father Richard Marquess-Barry Post Office Building. The Reverend Canon Richard Livingston Marquess-Barry was born on November 14, 1940, in Miami, Florida, to Bahamian immigrants. Raised by his grandparents, Reverend Barry attended the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system while working as a garbage collector every morning before school and as a dishwasher after school. Reverend Barry earned his Bachelor of Arts at St. Augustine College in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1962. That same year, he married Virla Rolle, his college sweetheart. The couple has been married for 52 years and has one daughter and two grandsons. Reverend Barry's lifelong devotion to the church began in 1965 when he became the only person of color enrolled at the Virginia Theological Seminary. Three years later, he earned a master's in divinity, and in 1989, he was the youngest person to earn a doctor of divinity degree in the 200-year history of the Virginia Theological Seminary. He has been a visiting fellow at the University of Munich in Germany as well as at Oxford University in England. In 1977, Reverend Barry took a pay cut in order to lead the Saint Agnes Episcopal Church, the largest and oldest Episcopal congregation for people of color in south Florida. Not only did he transform Saint Agnes and leave it with an endowment upon his retirement, he also worked tirelessly to improve the Overtown community where Saint Agnes is located. As a young priest, Reverend Barry served his community religiously and also dedicated himself to furthering civil rights despite numerous assassination attempts. He led the effort to integrate the St. Lucie County public school system. He also pressured the city of Fort Pierce and St. Lucie County to adopt fair hiring and promotion practices within the police and fire departments and within all other government agencies. He has also been a champion of improving housing options for underprivileged people in our community. Among his many awards, Reverend Barry is currently the holder of two keys to Miami-Dade County and of one key to the city of Miami for his many years of devotion and advocacy to the south Florida community. He has been recognized for his work by Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, the NAACP, the Florida State Senate, and President Obama. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Reverend Barry for his decades of service to our community, and I ask all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill to designate the Miami post office the Father Richard Marquess-Barry Post Office Building.

Ms. WILSON of Florida

Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 520, had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''