Susan Wild

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 422. Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress Baird (Bucshon) Bass (Correa) Bush (Garcia (IL)) Cardenas (Correa) Carter (LA) (Jeffries) Castro (TX) (Correa) Conway (Valadao) DeSaulnier (Beyer) Diaz-Balart (Salazar) Fallon (Nehls) Gaetz (Cawthorn) Grijalva (Garcia (IL)) Jacobs (NY) (Tenney) Johnson (TX) (Jeffries) Jones (Garcia (IL)) Kirkpatrick (Pallone) Lawson (FL) (Evans) McEachin (Beyer) Meng (Kuster) Moolenaar (Bergman) Moore (UT) (Hartzler) Moore (WI) (Beyer) Newman (Garcia (IL)) Pingree (Kuster) Rice (NY) (Deutch) Ryan (OH) (Correa) Schrader (Correa) Scott (VA) (Beyer) Scott, Austin (Cammack) Stansbury (Pallone) Tlaib (Garcia (IL)) Wexton (Beyer) Wilson (FL) (Deutch)

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, our Nation can be characterized by many great traits, hard work, discipline, grit, dedication, determination, selflessness, bravery, courage, strength, and a quest for success. We have a rugged streak of individualism, a desire to get things done by any means necessary, even if it means going it alone. These are admirable American traits and have made us who we are. But they are also why we are where we are on mental health. We Americans find it so difficult to ask for help; to show people we need support; to recognize that maybe we should not always go it alone. Our Nation is facing a mental health crisis, one which the unprecedented stress and uncertainty of the pandemic has forced into plain view, demanding to be addressed, to be seen, to be helped. And that, perhaps, may be the silver lining of the pandemic; that we have finally woken up and taken notice of this epidemic in our country. Just think about it: Healthcare providers were on the front lines of treating COVID-19 through waves and waves of patients, selflessly putting the needs of everyone else before themselves. In the early waves, when COVID-19 was still new, they were the only ones present to hold the hands of countless people as they passed from this world. Teachers, historically underpaid and overworked, putting together lesson plans to keep our children learning, while under the pressure of, what if my school is next? How will I protect my kids? As they see that yet another school is the recipient of thoughts and prayers. No occupation is spared. Law enforcement, firefighters, dentists, veterinarians, farmers. Young people just beginning their lives thrown for a loop by the pandemic--milestones they and their families had looked forward to, delayed or canceled, not being able to see friends and family members in person, the anxiety of entering a world changed almost overnight, trying to find a new normal. Parents, who served triple duty, caretaker, teacher, breadwinner, all while trying to keep their families safe and healthy. We have all experienced grief and loss in one way or another over the last 3 years. Some of us lost family and friends; some lost businesses or their health, and some of us experienced extreme isolation, anxiety, and stress. But we all experienced something. Our strength as Americans isn't just rooted in our individual discipline, selflessness, bravery, or courage, but in our collective ability to take care of one another. That is why I am so passionate about mental healthcare, making it more accessible, affordable, and available. During last year's appropriations bill, I successfully fought for an increase of $530 million for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, our most important Federal agency for supporting mental health and combating the addiction crisis. For our healthcare providers who have for so long taken care of us with so little support for their own care, I introduced the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, a bill that provides funding to reduce and prevent suicide, burnout, and mental and behavioral health conditions among healthcare professionals. I am very proud to say that it passed through the Senate and has been signed into law by President Biden. The bill is named for Dr. Lorna Breen, an emergency room doctor, who worked on the front lines of the pandemic and died by suicide in the spring of 2020. I am so proud to say that this bill was signed by President Biden this past spring. For students on college campuses, I have introduced and passed through the House the Enhancing Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Through Campus Planning Act, focusing on promoting positive mental health among college students, and encouraging college leaders to engage in comprehensive planning efforts to prevent suicide on college campuses. I am now focused on getting that through the Senate and signed into law. During this time of extreme stress for our young people, our colleges and universities need resources to reach out to students and to better support their mental health. Our young children have, unfortunately, not been spared from the mental health crisis. Suicide rates in young children have been climbing, and the leading method has become by hanging, with information found online. There is no reason for young children to be able to find directions on how to tie a noose on YouTube. I have been working to hold YouTube accountable and to bring down those videos. Our children deserve to grow up in a world that encourages them to be both strong and determined and able to ask for help and lean on their support systems. We all deserve that. Finally, we must make sure that our mental health professionals are respected, that people are encouraged to go into that profession, and that that profession is fairly compensated. We have a shortage of mental health professionals that is hurting our country, hurting our communities. We, as individuals, and together as communities, are so much stronger when we have support systems in place to reinforce our strength, to help us bounce back, and to be resilient. We can do this, but we have to work together. We have to admit our vulnerabilities, and we have to put all politics aside as we work on this critical issue.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, at its core what this amendment says is simple: After an estimated 30,000 extrajudicial killings in the Philippines between 2016 and today, after the assassinations, arbitrary arrests, torture, and red tagging of labor organizers and opposition leaders, after former President Duterte's calls for assassinating politically engaged bishops, after the Philippines has been named year after year by the International Trade Union Confederation as one of the world's 10 most repressive countries for the labor movement and workers, the time is long overdue to begin putting some basic human rights guardrails in place in the United States-Philippines relationship. I believe our policy should be built on a clear principle: Our constituents' tax dollars should not be used to supply weapons, training, or any other assistance to state security forces that violently target political opponents, including a United States citizen, Brandon Lee, a human rights activist, who was shot by state security forces in 2019 and remains paralyzed from the chest down today as a result of that attack. Brandon deserves to know that his government stands with him, not with his attackers. I have made this point to the Trump administration, and I am making it to the Biden administration. If we in the United States are going to say that we stand for human rights around the world, then we need to stand for human rights around the world, not just when it is politically convenient and not just when it is easy. Is it too much to ask that our country put some modest conditions on arming and assisting the security forces of an authoritarian government waging war on its own people? Is it too much to ask that our government side with workers and the labor movement here at home and around the world? With faith and religious leaders? With human rights activists and dissidents who are simply trying to build a free society? Those who oppose this amendment will claim that providing uncritical, unconditional assistance to the Philippines, regardless of the war its government is waging against its own population, is critical for our national security objective of countering China. But the need to counter the Chinese regime's authoritarianism on the international stage is precisely why it is so important that we maintain our credibility on human rights. It is why it is so vital that we do not undermine our own case for democracy and open ourselves up to charges of hypocrisy by supporting brutal regimes out of short-term political expediency. Let's pass this amendment and send a resounding signal to the world that we are prepared to make respect for human rights a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy rather than an empty slogan that we yield arbitrarily. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, my colleague across the aisle is arguing for the status quo. As I said before, it is critical for our own national security objectives of countering China that we maintain our credibility on human rights issues. It is absolutely vital that we do not undermine our own case for democracy. If I have one message for all those who defend the status quo on this issue, all those who claim that we effectively need to choose between our security and our principles, it is this: It doesn't need to be this way. Abdicating our values makes us less secure in the long run. That is why I urge my colleagues to pass this amendment by a resounding margin and to cosponsor my bill, the Philippines Human Rights Act. The vote on this amendment is just a first step of what must be a sustained commitment to standing with the people of the Philippines. Together, we can finally begin shaping a U.S. policy toward the Philippines that is anchored in respect for human rights and human dignity, those of the people of the Philippines as well as those of our people and all people around the world. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, during Roll Call No. 337 on H.R. 7900, I mistakenly recorded my vote as no when I should have voted yes. Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress Allred (Neguse) Barragan (Correa) Bentz (Obernolte) Brown (MD) (Trone) Cardenas (Correa) Castro (TX) (Neguse) Cohen (Beyer) Crist (Schneider) DeFazio (Pallone) Deutch (Stevens) Doggett (Beyer) Evans (Neguse) Fallon (Carl) Gonzalez (OH) (Armstrong) Hartzler (Bacon) Jacobs (CA) (Correa) Johnson (TX) (Jeffries) Kahele (Correa) Katko (Meijer) Kirkpatrick (Pallone) Lawrence (Stevens) Leger Fernandez (Kuster) Lieu (Beyer) Moore (WI) (Beyer) Moulton (Stevens) Newman (Beyer) Panetta (Beyer) Pappas (Kuster) Pascrell (Pallone) Pingree (Kuster) Porter (Neguse) Pressley (Neguse) Reschenthaler (Keller) Rice (NY) (Murphy (FL)) Ryan (Beyer) Salazar (Dunn) Sires (Pallone) Smith (NJ) (Kelly (PA)) Taylor (Armstrong) Timmons (Armstrong) Trahan (Stevens) Upton (Meijer) Walorski (Baird) Wasserman Schultz (Schneider) Wilson (SC) (Lamborn) Amendment No. 395 Offered by Ms. Speier

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak about this bipartisan bill, H.R. 5407, the Enhancing Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Through Campus Planning Act, which will be taken up for consideration today. Supporting the young people of our country is not a partisan issue. I thank the co-lead of this bill, Representative Fred Keller, and the original cosponsors, Representatives Fitzpatrick, Raskin, Stevens, Trone, Scanlon, Moulton, Grijalva, Roybal-Allard, Dean, Harder, and DeSaulnier for their support. In the last several years, young Americans have faced unprecedented challenges resulting in a rise in mental health needs. College campus counseling centers have been tasked with responding to this increased demand for mental health services with limited staff, funding, and resources. The mental health effects of the pandemic are widespread, with a study conducted by Pennsylvania State University reporting that 94 percent of students seeking mental health services said that COVID-19 negatively impacted at least one area of their life and 72 percent reporting that the pandemic's main impact has been on their mental health. To help institutions of higher education better serve students, once passed, this bill will encourage colleges and universities to develop and implement mental health programs in concert with both State-level programs and community-based organizations. During my visits to colleges in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania, even before the pandemic, students shared with me the importance of improving mental health care access on campus. Today, I am proud that the Enhancing Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Through Campus Planning Act will receive a vote, and I look forward to casting mine in support.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a constituent, Ms. Vivian Fahr, who recently completed her GED at the age of 88. After completing the 10th grade, Vivian left school and got married. From that point on, she never stopped working hard to raise four kids, pay the bills, and put food on the table. One day, she remarked to her daughter-in-law that she regretted never having had the chance to finish her education. Vivian's family connected her to ProJeCt of Easton, an outstanding interfaith coalition in my district that provides free educational programs to members of the community. With the organization's help, Vivian started her coursework at age 87 and diligently worked to obtain her degree, always attending class, participating, and asking for assistance when needed. Vivian is an inspiration to her children, her grandchildren, the greater Lehigh Valley community, and students of all ages. She is a testament to the importance of high-quality education. Congratulations, Vivian.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, I rise today not just as the Representative for Pennsylvania's Seventh District, but also as the Representative of one of the largest Ukrainian-American communities in our entire country. Today, my constituents are gutted. These horrific images of Bucha are seared into their hearts and minds forever. When they see these images, they are thinking of their sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, and aunts and uncles who have gone from living peaceful lives to being martyrs in an unprovoked war of choice that had absolutely no reason for occurring. When we see these images, we need to think of an average suburban neighborhood here in the United States and try to imagine what it would be like to have our homes, our families, our neighbors destroyed without provocation, without any cause whatsoever. I look at this photo of a woman with freshly manicured nails, and as any woman viewing this knows, when she had her nails done, perhaps in anticipation of an evening out with friends, this victim of slaughter wasn't imagining that her beautiful bright red nails were going to be displayed around the world as evidence of carnage. There is enormous grief in my community, and there is enormous righteous anger and indignation. I am here to echo that anger and that indignation and to say that we will not accept this. We will stand up against it. The United Nations Security Council must authorize an independent investigation into the crimes that were committed in Bucha. Since Russia will almost certainly veto, it is crucial that we immediately find another path to move forward with such an investigation. This is not up to Vladimir Putin. His crimes are now for the world to judge and for history to record. Now is not the time for messaging resolutions by the United Nations and others. It is time for action by every democratic country in the world. We cannot stand back. As the Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel said, ``Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must--at that moment--become the center of the universe.'' Ukraine must be the center of the universe right now, for as long as it takes. The Grammy Awards, the NCAA tournaments, and our favorite television shows are a welcome diversion, but let that diversion be short. Don't lose focus of the center of the universe, which right now must be Ukraine. The work of delivering justice can start here. Every democratic country must investigate and ensure that implicated Russian officials, oligarchs, and their families are barred from entering their borders. Together, the international community must come together to send the message that no country can commit war crimes and see them go unpunished. I urge President Biden to take the step I called on him to take back in the first week of March. Work with our European allies to take all Russian financial institutions, not just some, off the SWIFT system. The cost of this invasion must be beyond unsustainable for Putin and the oligarchs around him. It must become literally unbearable. But we must do more. We must provide the Ukrainian people with the full range of military aid that they need--drones, armored vehicles, machine guns, planes, night vision devices, every single weapon of war that they need for their defense. And time is of the essence. It goes without saying that continued humanitarian assistance must be provided on an ongoing basis. The fact that we have private American citizens--and I know some of them--who are delivering medical supplies and other necessities into Ukraine more quickly than we or our NATO allies are is incomprehensible. But I also laud those citizens. The extraordinary courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people is a challenge to us all. How much will they have to bear? How long will we let these crimes continue? Enough is enough. We will never forget. We will never lose sight of the fact that our shared humanity is at stake in this barbaric invasion. The Ukrainian people and justice and democracy will prevail. The Ukrainians will come out as the heroes of this story when it is told in the history books. But let us, too, come out as the helpers, the ones who did everything we possibly could to help them achieve victory and restore their country.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise as someone who in my past life defended corporations and entities that often had mandatory arbitration clauses in their contracts. As such, I am uniquely qualified to address the myths that have been perpetuated about the FAIR Act. By the way, ``myths'' is a polite term for ``lies.'' One has to consider that if we believe these claims that forced arbitration is cheaper, fairer, and faster, then surely workers and consumers would voluntarily choose it. So, there is no harm in restoring Americans' freedom to choose for themselves how to seek justice. First myth: The FAIR Act eliminates arbitration entirely, and no one will choose arbitration if it is voluntary. Fact: The FAIR Act doesn't eliminate arbitration, as has been said over and over here today. It just prohibits forced arbitration and allows both parties to choose arbitration voluntarily after a worker's rights or a consumer's rights have been violated. If forced arbitration were instead voluntary, the private market would incentivize arbitration providers to treat both parties fairly and equally so that both parties would choose that process because they would feel like they are getting an equal opportunity at justice. Second myth: Consumers and workers are more likely to win and get higher awards in forced arbitration than in court. Fact: This is a lie. That is the result of a misleading study, which deliberately cherry-picked data by excluding all results for the most common way consumers and workers file their cases in State courts and through class actions. The Chamber of Commerce only examined outcomes of individual cases filed in Federal court because it knows that very few consumer and worker cases are filed in Federal court. Americans are, in fact, more likely to be struck by lightning than they are to win a monetary award in a forced arbitration. A study based on self-reported data from two of the leading private arbitration providers revealed that, on average, only approximately 382 consumers won a monetary award each year, less than the number of people struck by lightning every year in the United States. While an estimated 60 million workers are subject to forced arbitration clauses, only 82 prevailed in employment forced arbitration claims in 2020. Third myth: Forced arbitration is faster and, as we have heard from some people across the aisle, cheaper than litigation. Another completely false claim is based on faulty data from a forced arbitration database, which systematically deleted older cases, completely skewing the average length of a case in forced arbitration-- simple data manipulation. The idea that arbitration would provide consumers a cheaper way to litigate their claims, perhaps suggesting that they would do that without a lawyer, no major company will ever go to arbitration without their highly paid company lawyers. And every individual, whether they are in court or in arbitration, would need representation against a corporation regardless of the forum that they are in. Fourth myth: The court system is overbooked, so forced arbitration provides more flexibility for scheduling. While more powerful defendants have an incentive to drag out resolution of a case, that incentive exists whether they are in court or arbitration. It is in the best interest of the individual who is filing the claim to seek the fastest possible resolution for his or her claim, and that would be done regardless of which they choose. By the way, corporations often choose courts over arbitration to resolve disputes that they initiate, showing that they do so when it benefits them.

Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, myth number 5, the FAIR Act violates the freedom to contract. This is my favorite one. Whose freedom? That of corporations or Americans? There was a comment that we are in the most successful economy in the history of the world, but for whom? Not necessarily for consumers or workers. Don't Americans have the right to participate in the economy without being forced to forego the rights and protections that are afforded to them under the law? The United States Constitution's Seventh Amendment guarantees the right to trial by jury for every American. What if corporations inserted provisions into their contracts forcing Americans to give up their First or Second Amendment rights to get or keep a job? Would we still be talking about the freedom to contract? Finally, the last myth. The FAIR Act is retroactive. It is not retroactive. It only applies to cases filed on or after the date of enactment. We need a level playing field between corporations and industries and the people who find themselves aggrieved by them. The arbitration process--make no mistake about it--is a private process. People bringing their claims need to be able to fairly evaluate the best forum for that claim to be adjudicated.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, I recently attended a gathering of the local Ukrainian-American community in my district. I heard so many heartbreaking accounts. One man, Joe Galazin, told me about his wife, Elena, their two kids, 9-year-old Olesya and 16-year-old Dinillo. The children were expecting to start school soon in the same Pennsylvania public schools where my two children went many years ago. Instead, they got trapped in Kharkiv. Unable to get out before the bombs began raining down, they found refuge in a bomb shelter. My office is in communication with the family--they are in a holding pattern in Lviv, uncertain of how or when they will be able to make the increasingly dangerous trip to the Polish border. These children will never be able to unsee the devastation they witnessed. They know that relatives who had to stay behind may lose their lives. Why? Because of this completely unprovoked, illegal invasion, and these air strikes on civilians who simply want to live in peace. The injustice is overwhelming. We must redouble our efforts to support the Ukrainian people in this fight for their sovereignty.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, I am proud to rise today on behalf of the more than 80,000 Puerto Rican constituents who call my district, Pennsylvania's Greater Lehigh Valley, home. My community would not be what it is without the contributions of the Puerto Rican community. The United States would not be what it is without the contributions of this community. Every aspect of our national legacy, our cultural and artistic heritage, our groundbreaking discoveries in science and technology, the dynamism of our economy, and the strength of our Armed Forces has been shaped indelibly by these fellow citizens. And yet despite their service, residents of the island cannot vote for the Commander in Chief. They lack voting representation in Congress. And despite paying into programs like Medicare and Medicaid, they do not have equitable coverage under these programs. I am here to deliver a clear message. As United States citizens, the people of Puerto Rico have the right to full representation in their government. This is a principle at the very core of our Nation's founding. It should not be controversial, and, in fact, it is widely accepted among Americans of both political parties. In fact, my colleague who has gathered us all here today and who has introduced the Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act is a Republican. Thank you for having me. Today, the 105th anniversary of the date when the people of Puerto Rico became United States citizens must mark the moment when we finally begin the work of passing legislation to give the people in Puerto Rico a long overdue voice and a vote in their future.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, I rise to discuss two amendments to the America COMPETES Act that were offered by me. The first amendment would direct relevant Federal agencies to identify U.S. allied countries that are key research partners so that we can develop and implement security procedures safeguarding our research. When we lead with diplomacy and ensure our Nation's scientists, businesses, and workers compete on a level playing field, the result is innovation, opportunity, and prosperity for Americans and our allies alike. I thank Representatives Gallagher, Cheney, and Casten for joining with me on this bipartisan effort. Madam Speaker, my second amendment dealt with the human rights crisis in the Philippines. President Duterte's so-called ``war on drugs'' has served as a pretext to conduct an estimated 30,000 extrajudicial killings to unjustly detain, torture, repress, and assassinate labor activists and other dissidents, including a U.S. citizen, activist Brandon Lee, who remains paralyzed from the chest down as a result of an assassination attempt. This amendment says that U.S. taxpayer funds in the bill cannot go to Philippines' police forces as long as basic human rights are flagrantly violated. It is a historic step forward.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, I am proud to rise in support of the America COMPETES Act. This legislation incorporates two bills that my office introduced: The Supply Chain Security and Resilience Act and the Regional Innovation Act. At a time when the need to finally secure our supply chains and rebuild a Made in America economy could not be clearer, my provisions of the bill from the Supply Chain Security and Resilience Act will put us on the path to doing just that. By creating a new office within the Commerce Department to promote U.S. leadership of critical industries and supply chains that are essential to our national and economic security, we will join businesses and government in common, national effort. The Regional Innovation Act would establish a Regional Technology and Innovation Hub program at the Department of Commerce to support regional economic development and innovation hubs nationwide. We can ensure that workers and businesses from all corners of our country, not just the coasts, benefit from investment. My community, Pennsylvania's Greater Lehigh Valley, is full of workers and businesses who have the vision, the talent, and the grit to reach global economic heights. They deserve the exposure to get their products to market. Our country has extraordinary promise. Let's pass this bill.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Allentown Police Detective and Community Liaison Officer James Stanko, a man who dedicated his life's work to bridging the divide between police officers and the community they serve. Officer Stanko died on Monday, a huge loss for our community, but his legacy lives on through the countless lives he touched. Officer Stanko wasn't known for sitting idly at a desk. His passions lay out in the community where he was known for mentoring our kids, whether it was through coaching basketball, talking at schools, or offering life lessons at the children's clinic. As someone who worked closely with him put it, ``Our kids called him family.'' He was a calming, yet dependable force that everyone, especially our youth, could turn to for guidance and support. Officer Stanko never stopped trying to achieve his ultimate goal of connecting the police department to the people that it serves. Working as an Allentown police officer for 13 years, Stanko never wavered in his values of honesty, integrity, and, most notably, respect for others. I was inspired by his sincere love for public service, as well as his passion for our community that he was proud to call home. He will be deeply missed.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, the Dr. Lorna Breen Healthcare Provider Protection Act, which will finally provide resources and support to our healthcare heroes who face burnout and mental health crisis as a result of their experiences with COVID- 19. America owes an incredible debt of gratitude to these professionals who work to keep us safe and healthy. Doctors die by suicide at twice the rate of the general population. The trauma of their experience during COVID--and before--while treating patients is something we must address head on. Dr. Lorna Breen was the emergency room director at New York Presbyterian Hospital and was a hero who embodied the spirit of service in our time of national crisis. She died by suicide in April 2020 at the peak of the COVID crisis in New York after contracting COVID herself, quarantining, and then returning to work. Her father said, ``She was truly in the trenches of the frontline. She tried to do her job and it killed her. Make sure she is praised as a hero. She was a casualty of this pandemic as much as anyone else who died.'' I am honored in her memory to lead this bill to prevent burnout among the health professionals answering the call of duty. I thank my seven co-leads, Raja Krishnamoorthi, David McKinley, Judy Chu, Fred Upton, Haley Stevens, Morgan Griffith, and John Katko, and to note that the strong bipartisan support that this bill enjoys is confirmation that Congress can still come together to tackle big problems. I thank Jennifer and Corey Feist, Dr. Breen's sister and brother-in- law, who have championed this bill from the beginning to ensure that Lorna's legacy is codified here in the halls of Congress. But most of all, I thank every last doctor, nurse, EMT, custodial staffer, food service worker, and especially our emergency room doctors who put themselves into harm's way to keep the rest of us safe. Our work to secure for you the support you need is far from over.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a local hero from my district in the Greater Lehigh Valley who served at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked 80 years ago today. Dick Schimmel was 19 when, on the morning of December 7, 1941, he was roused from sleep by fellow servicemembers with the sound of explosions striking the American Naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Mr. Schimmel is a lifelong resident of Allentown, and a consummate American hero who joined the Army in August of 1940, serving as a radar specialist as part of the 580th Signal Aircraft Warning Company, before returning to Pennsylvania, where he sold appliances for Sears for 34 years. Today is a solemn day as we reflect on the legacy of a day that President Roosevelt wisely said would ``live in infamy.'' We lost 2,335 servicemembers that day and an additional 68 civilians, not to mention countless more with injuries, both visible and invisible. As the daughter of an Air Force veteran, I want to thank Mr. Schimmel for his heroism in Pearl Harbor 80 years ago.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, as Maya Angelou said, ``When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.'' Despite Paul Gosar's history of dangerous rhetoric, and despite his conduct showing him to be a dangerous extremist, he is still here in Congress. Now he has depicted himself killing one of our colleagues and the President of the United States. Never doubt that leaders' calls for violence can lead to actual violence. We have seen it throughout the world, and we have seen it right here on January 6. Nor should the actions of his taxpayer-paid staff in creating and disseminating this vile video be ignored. They are grown adults, and they have cultivated a hostile work environment for the subject of this disgusting video and for her staff. Paul Gosar has glorified violence against a duly elected official who came here to serve her district. She, nor any of us, sign up for this kind of abuse. Our families should not have to live with the fear that we will be the subject of violent attacks. Paul Gosar has shown who he is. Believe him. Censure him.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 760 and in solidarity with the Cubans who, have over the past months, turned out in large numbers to engage in peaceful demonstrations for a better future. They did so with the full knowledge that they were braving an authoritarian regime that criminalizes dissent. According to Amnesty International's Americas director: ``In response to the protests of 11 July, the Cuban authorities have applied the same machinery of control that they have used to target alternative thinkers for decades, but now amped up to a scale we haven't seen in almost 20 years, and with new tactics, including the use of internet interruptions and online censorship to control and cover up the grave human rights violations they have committed.'' These are sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives. Above all, they are human beings who are entitled to fundamental rights denied to them for far too long. As the House of Representatives takes this vote, let us stand with every prisoner of conscience and dissident facing persecution in Cuba and in every corner of the world.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, we have been working hard on a transformative bill that will make a difference in so many people's lives, the Build Back Better Act. And yet, the Democrats who are behind this bill, who have worked on it so hard, have been under a barrage of attack and criticism for being in disarray, for being unable to get it done. But let me say this: This is how it should be done. We are talking about historic unprecedented investments in our climate, in universal pre-K, in drug pricing, in housing policy. Why would anyone think that that is a bill that should come together quickly? This is the legislative process. We craft. We read. We edit. We make changes. We read it again--all for the good of the American people. Mr. Speaker, we will get this done and it will be a solid, well- thought-out, beautiful piece of legislation. It will make a real difference in people's lives. Keep the faith.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the bipartisan Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act of 2021, and, quite honestly, it is just mind-boggling to me that anybody could find anything to criticize about this bill. Since it was signed into law four decades ago, the Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act has remained the main source of Federal funding for the domestic violence shelters in which so many of the most vulnerable people in our society find safety. Despite the progress that we have made in this country in acknowledging the scourge of domestic violence, Congress has not provided the necessary resources to keep pace with this crisis. This bill would reauthorize programs that have not been fully funded in more than a decade, since 2010--programs that are a literal lifeline for all those who are facing domestic violence across the country. Domestic violence affects millions of Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control, around one in five homicide victims across our Nation are killed by an intimate partner, and approximately one in every five women and one in every seven men in the United States will experience major physical violence from an intimate partner at some point in their lives. Madam Speaker, we must pass this critical legislation.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman. It is an honor to be part of the Special Order hour, it is an honor to be called feisty, and it is an honor to follow my good friends and colleagues, Representative Frankel and Representative Schakowsky as they talked about different aspects of the care economy. Representative Frankel was focused on childcare. She, of course, has grandchildren and is very focused on the care that they are receiving. Madam Speaker, I want to tell a personal story, because it is something that I, frankly, having had this experience, this issue of the care economy might not resonate as much with me as it does. In 2014, my mother was diagnosed with brain cancer. She was an incredibly independent woman, had always had a career until she retired, lived alone, gardened, took care of her home, and was, in all respects, somebody that, quite frankly, my sister and I thought was going to live to be 100. She was 82 at the time. Everything changed on a dime. She was diagnosed with brain cancer in the summer of 2014. We, her daughters, were told that she had a pretty short time left to live. And it was a shock, nothing that we could in any way have planned for or anticipated or made prior arrangements. But we knew that it was incredibly important that we bring her to one of our homes for the remaining weeks or months that she had to live. So she was transported to my home where we had home hospice care for her. I worked full-time as a lawyer at the time. My sister worked full- time. Obviously, our first concern was our mother, but both of us also had careers and bills that had to be paid, that we had worked for for so many years. And so what ended up happening was that we engaged home healthcare workers to help us take care of our mother. It was only because of those tireless home care workers that were with her at her bedside during the night so that I could sleep, providing essential care, and it was only because of them that my family and I could rest somewhat easier knowing that mom had the help and the resources that she needed around her. I can tell you, quite honestly, that we would not have made it through those months had we not had the benefit of home healthcare workers. And I have to tell you, again firsthand, watching a parent or a loved one suffer is hard enough, but those workers--and they were all women, I might add--who came into our home, made it just a little bit easier for me and for my sister and the rest of our family, knowing that she had a team of hardworking caregivers by her side through her sickness. We know that home care workers have been on the front lines this past year. We have heard a lot about it. Quite honestly, until the pandemic, I don't know that we ever really heard much about home care workers, but they cared for our most vulnerable population. They put themselves and their families at risk. They did this while earning near poverty wages. We know that home care workers are three times as likely to be living at or near the poverty line, with many of them struggling to afford their own healthcare while they provide essential services to the elderly and disabled Americans. One home healthcare worker in my district who cares for a young man who is disabled told me that she has not taken a single day of vacation time in more than 10 years. She is a young woman, but she has been working for a long time. She hasn't taken a single day off. This kind of thing is completely unacceptable. I stand with them in their call for a long-overdue raise, improved worker benefits, and the opportunity to organize and collectively bargain. None of us are able to anticipate when we are going to need this kind of care for somebody in our family. It happens, as it always does, when you least expect it. This is the smart thing to do. We have the opportunity now at a pivotal time. By the way, as our Nation grows older, the need for this critical workforce is only going to grow. The commonsense investments that we are talking about as being part of the Build Back Better Act are absolutely commonsense investments that will create jobs but will also provide the necessary support both in terms of healthcare support and emotional support for families that our aging population is going to require. For too long, this population of workers has been underpaid and undervalued, and that has to end with the Build Back Better Act.

Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, that is what we experienced. She was hospitalized for a full month before we brought her home for hospice care, during which she underwent all kinds of, frankly, unnecessary interventions that the facility was required to do. She was in daily physical therapy, which was almost ludicrous for a woman who had just weeks left to live. Yes, the cost factor to Medicare is significant as well.

Ms. WILD

Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4981) to amend the Fentanyl Sanctions Act, to modify certain deadlines relating to the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking.