act, the national fish and wildlife foundation act, the bay -- chesapeake bay program, the chesapeake bay initiative act of 1998. important ll very programs, not only to the folks back home in my district, but to americans who wish to have clean air to breathe, clean ater to drink, and an overall healthier environment where our fish and wildlife populations are sustainable and thriving. it also includes things like a chronic westing disease tasks for with the aim of researching this disease. this bill also has practical solutions to offer farmers and ranchers, vital tools to helping more their herds and protect them from predation. title ii of the provision i'm especially proud of and glad we're advancing through the house and onto the president's desk for his signature.

this includes the national fish habitat conservation through partnerships provision, a bill i championed. this title establishes a national fish habitat board that supports a successful public-private partnership to restore fish habitat. i would like to thank the ranking member of the natural resources committee, rob bishop, and the ranking member of the subcommittee on water, oceans and wildlife, tom mcclintock. i would also like to to thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for their ceaseless effort and commitment to making sure we do everything we can to conserve prork tect and enhance the resources that we are in charge of taking care of. i look forward to continuing to advance other important provisions, but this bill hopefully will be on its way to the president's desk. as co-chair of the chesapeake bay watershed task force i would specifically like to act modge my friends an colleagues in the bay delegation who labored so

hard for so long to help clean up our great chesapeake bay, representative bobby scott, representative sarbanes and representative andy harris and i are pleased to the passage of these important provisions. the american conservation enhancement act does much to enhance our bipartisan goflse conserving fish and wile life populations an preserving the environment for untold future generations of americans. thes aact will also give americans -- the ace act will also give more americans the opportunity to get out and enjoy our country, from the great lakes to the pew yet sound and chesapeake bay. i urge adoption of the measure and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from michigan, mrs. dingell is recognized. mrs. dingell: i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from virginia. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from virginia is

recognized. >> i rise today in support of america's conservation enhancement act. and the inclusion of my bill the chesapeake bay re-authorization act. this is truly an example of a bipartisan bill where we've been able to work across the aisle and across the bay and i'd like to thank my colleague, mr. wittman, of virginia, as well for his strong cooperation on this program. mrs. luria: the chesapeake bay is critical to the economic well being of coastal virginia and beyond. the chesapeake bay generates $33 billion in economic value annually and is home to spectacular beauty and diversity. supportspeake bay bill

research, funding for the bay program goes to localities to fund this effort. congress has not passed this pam since 2005. by passing this bill congress will reaffirm the states in the watershed and the states must work together -- and e.p.a. must work together to achieve goals. i want to thank my colleagues in the house and senate who worked hard to prepare the passage of this bill. i would like to thank mr. wittman, my colleague congressman bobby scott of virm and mr. sarbanes of maryland for being initial co-sponsors of on this bill. i urge all members to support america's conservation enhance. act and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman is recognized. -- the gentlewoman from michigan eserves.

the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. wittman: thank you, mr. speaker. i would like to reflect on the words of representative luria. this is a bipartisan bill. i'd like to thank not just my colleagues on the other side of the aisle but colleagues from all our states, representative luria and the rest of the virginia delegation, as i talk about the folks from the chesapeake bay delegation. everyone has an interest in this bill. it's an extraordinary effort across many areas where there's common interest. it's a great example of what we can get done when we're willing to focus on things we have in common rather than place where we have differences. e thing we do have in common are the thing december be stowed upon us by our creator and our obligation as humanity to protect and enhance those resources not only now but for generations to come. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlewoman from michigan is recognized. mrs. dingell: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from maryland, mr. sarbanes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. sarbanes: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of s. 3051, america's conservation enhancement or ace act. i want to thank congressman wittman for his work. we partnered together as he indicated on the chesapeake bay watershed task force with congressman harris and congressman scott. i want to salute the efforts of congresswoman luria in introducing this chesapeake bay re-authorization program i was proud to co-sponsor. this bill has take an winding road, as these things do, but we're close to the finish line an look forward to passage of the bill. it's bipartisan, bicameral, to conserve and protect fish and wildlife habitats and combat

invasive species as we heard and it includes these several bipartisan provisions that will protect the long-term health of the chesapeake bay. specifically as i indicated two bills, one the re-authorize program and the chesapeake watershed investment or chesapeake wild act which would establish a grant program to bolster habitat restoration and protection throughout the watershed. it also includes a bill i was proud to introduce, the chesapeake bay gateways an water trails network re-authorization act which would expand recreational tuns for millions of marylanders and bay area residents across the region. it will significantly boost the health othey have bay and ensure it remains an environmental treasure for years to come. as congressman wittman said we worked together on this ewatershed task force and through that task force we pulled together real bipartisan

support for this effort. as the largest estuary in the u.s., the chesapeake bay is an important ecosystem and model for restoration efforts throughout the country and that is in large part due to our successful bipartisan work at the federal, state and local levels. i'd like to thank chair grijalva, our house leadership and their staff for the work in negotiating a bipartisan and bicameral environmental conservation package. i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this important legislation so that our nation's natural habitats and scenic landscapes like the chesapeake bay

gentlewoman from michigan is recognized. mrs. dingell: i reserve. mr. wittman: i'd like to inquire of my colleague if she has fourth speakers? i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from michigan is recognized. mrs. dingell: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from south carolina mr. cunningham. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cunningham: when i came to congress i promised to help champion legislation to make this planet a better place for future generations. that's why i'm proud the ace act will be signed into law. the ace act is a bipartisan package that enswhires leave this planet in better shape than we found it. the ace act serves as a thank you to the outdoor enthusiasts of south carolina's first district and millions like them across the united states by providing re-authorization for vital conservation programs. the low country's hounters and -- hunters and anglers are some of the strongest stewards of our natural resources and this bill is a promise that this partnership will continue for generations.

i want to thank congressman thompson for his leadership and my colleagues on both sides for getting this pass. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from michigan is recognized. mrs. dingell: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia. mr. wittman: does my colleague have further speakers? mrs. dingell: i do not. mr. wittman: then i will close quickly. i'd like to thank my colleague, representative dingell for her efforts. obviously the natural resources committee has a lot of input on this. but again this is a great example about what we can all do when we look at those things we have in common. we have been bestowed these fantastic natural resources. gifts from our creator. we have an obligation to protect them and what we see today is that common idea of that obligation and how we fulfill that obligation. today really is one of those days where we should remember

historically about all the different elements that have come together. we know it's an arduous path for many pieces of legislation but today should be a reminder of what we can do when we look at the things we have in common. when we look at our responsibilities and obligations to this nation and to the treasures that we have here before us. today is indeed a great day. i urge my colleagues to support this bill. it is an indication of what makes this nation great. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from michigan is recognized. mrs. dingell: the ace act is the culmination of months of bipartisan work between the house, the senate, committee staff and key stakeholders. i want to thank my colleague, mr. wittman, who ising moring this bill today. all of my colleagues on the natural resources committee. so many people have worked to get us here and for me it's almost a special moment because

decades of work have resulted today in the opening of the detroit international wildlife refuge which will benefit from this legislation. it makes me kind of emotional today. this passage will thords critical funding for america's fish and wildlife habitat. it is an example of what happens when we all come together to protect our natural resources. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass senate bill 3051. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from michigan seek

recognition? mrs. dingell: i move that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 512 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5126, a bill to require individuals fishing to use certain devices and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule the gentlewoman from michigan, mrs. dingelling and the gentleman each ouisiana, mr. graves will control 20 minutes. mrs. dingell: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. dingell: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. dingell: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 5126, the creatively and aptly named conservation of

and economy through novel devices or defend act. this bill requires every commercial and recreational fisherman to possess a venting tool or descending device when fishing for reef fesh like the prized red snapper in the gulf of mexico. easy. in addition, the bill requires the department of commerce to contract with the national report on sciences to discord mortality in gulf fisheries. it also requires commerce and the gulf fishery council guidance for reporting discards an associated mortality and develop a plan to assess the effectiveness and usage of trauma reducing devices. the united states has some of the most sustainable fisheries in the world but the issue of catch is still a very serious

concern. anglers sometimes catch fish they don't want and are not allowed to keep so they need to be returned to the ocean. according to some estimates, global by-catch may amount to 10% of the world's total catch. owever, deep water grouper and snapper express pressure changes when brought to the surface. it can cause death and can leave injured fish exposed to predators exposed. if the fish are thrown back, it is likely they will die, which is both a waste and unhealthful for promoting healthy fish populations. reduce dues this by is by using a descending device. similar requirements exist in other parts of the country but

held up in the gulf. the descend act would get around the bureaucratic roadblock and implement this commonsense pro-conservation practice. this is a simple path forward for reducing mortality for some of the prized fish in the country which will create sustainable, profitable and enjoyable fisheries for andlers in this nation. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from louisiana, mr. graves, is recognized. mr. graves: mr. speaker, i thank my friend from michigan. and i want to thank the chairman and ranking member bishop for their work on this legislation. mr. speaker, years ago, the federal government tried to tell our communities, all of us grew up fishing and many for substance and for recreation,

it's our outdoors. the federal government told us would only get three to nine days to fish for red snapper. when we were a kid, that was our recreation. we don't have mountains and the other recreational opportunities that go along with those types of elevation changes. fishing is our outdoors. it's what we door at home. and that was being taken away from us. we totally disagreed on the solution. we butted heads for years to work for a solution. on this bill, mr. huffman and i are in lock step. we are joined as co-sponsors on this bill and are moving this one together because we believe this is the right solution. as you heard mrs. dingell just explain, what happens is we have a season on red snapper and only fish for a certain number of

days a year. yet, you can't tell what fish is going to bite your line when it's under the water. red snapper live at 100 feet or below and they can stay at certain depths. when they are caught, they are exhausted and a fish cannot go back down. they have technologies, mr. speaker, as ones like this, descending device like that where you can release the fish down to the proper depths and they have venting tools to release the pressure. we are talking about 2 1/2 million fish that are discarded or lost. if we are having conflicts between recreational and commercial fisher in terms of the access to the fisheries and we are discarding 2 1/2 million fish every five years, it is a

huge opportunity for us to actually grow the pie. and as my friend from michigan stated, to actually ensure the sustainability of these fisheries, not just for us but for our children and grandchildren for generations to come. it is a better management tool that is used in other areas and this legislation would provide for the use of descending and venting tools as well as additional freeing up research dollars associated with red snapper and descending tool use and management of the fisheries. i thank the chairman and the ranking member. i thank bill, christine and laura and all the staff that did a great job as well as jeff and cindy in our office. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from michigan. mrs. dingell: i have no further requests for time and inquire

whether my colleague has any remaining speakers? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized. mr. graves: i yield three minutes to the the gentleman from georgia, mr. carter. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. carter: mr. speaker, i thank my colleagues for allowing me the time to speak on an issue that is important to my district and something i want other parts of the country to benefit as well. as you can see, i know a thing or two about fishing. in fact, mr. speaker, it has been said that fish tremble at the mention of my name. and mr. speaker, it's been said, you put me in water and i will catch fish. this is a red snapper. it was caught on the atlantic coast. i represent the best district in the nation, the entire coast of

georgia. and this is caught off the coast of georgia. fishing is not just a hobby but a way of life and part of our coastal economies. it is critical that we maintain our fisheries. this bill that we are discussing today, the descend act would do that by expanding descending devices when. we use these devices on the atlantic coast. i have used them before. the red snapper are popular fish to fish for but are p mostly caught near the bottom of the ocean and they must be released because they are out of season or because of size restrictions. unfortunately, though, when they are reeled to the surface as representative graves so accurately described, when they are reeled to the surface, the decreased water pressure on the

fish's interm organs allow gases to expand in their bodies than can compensate. this makes it impossible for the fish to return to the bottom, resulting in the death of the fish that are caught and released. descending devices like was shown earlier by representative graves releases the fish at a depth sufficient enough for the fish to be able to recover from these damaging effects. this is an effective conservation practice supported by fishermen and regulateors alike and been successful in my district and the west coast. i support this effort to bring this to the gulf coast and urge my colleagues to do as well. it is an approach to improve the survival of fish that are caught and released and maintain populations going forward. we want to help our partners on

the gulf coast so they can catch a fish that big and that is the intent and will help them. so i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the great fisherman yields. he gentleman from louisiana is recognized. the gentlewoman from michigan. mrs. dingell: i'm prepared to close. mr. graves: i appreciate that picture to see the size. that fish was born in louisiana and swam over there. and i did notice in the picture my friend from georgia appeared to be more slim than he is today. so my explanation of the swim bladder, perhaps my friend's swim bladder iselle vated from not going to the gym. in any case, i do want to thank

my friend from georgia and the republicans and democrats and r. wittman for working on this legislation. i submit to the record a letter from the american sports fishing guy ation, coastal and harvey ocean. marine retailers association, national marine manufacturers. need ire roosevelt partnership organization and they express support for the legislation. i want to thank a number of people that were instrumental in helping us to strike this bipartisan. theodore roosevelt partnership, david with the coastal conservation association and septemberers for sports fishing policy.

and i urge passage and i yield back. mrs. dingell: i thank my colleague, mr. graves, for the work he has done. a lot of the discussions we had in committee on snapper. i thank both of my colleagues and suggest we go fishing. there was a trip with several colleagues here who thought i would catch nothing and i caught more than than they all caught together. we need a bipartisan fishing trip. but having said that, mr. speaker, i would like to thank all of the leadership of the natural resources committee, the sportsmen groups and everybody who worked on this to try and find consensus on something that does matter. the act will safeguard our ecosystems and eliminate by catch in a sustainable way and i thank my colleagues for the good work -- and i want to thank

representative huffman for his work on this bill. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5126 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from michigan seek recognition? mrs. dingell: i move that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5068 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5068 a bill to authorize the women who worked on the home front foundation to establish a commemorative work in the district of columbia and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore:

pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from michigan, mrs. dingell and the gentleman from virginia, mr. wittman, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from michigan, mrs. dingell. mrs. dingell: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. dingell: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. dingell: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in strong support of h.r. 5068 the women who worked on the home front memorial act introduced by eleanor holmes norton. h.r. 5068 would authorize the establishment of a memorial to commemorate the nearly 19 million women who worked on the ome front during world war ii. with male enlistment leaving

deficiencies in the defense industries, women across the country held jobs held by men to support the war effort and keep america running. i'm proud of the fact that my istrict is home to rosey the riveters which were a good example of women being able to do it. these women worked in defense plants, military aircraft, delivered mail and performed other duties necessary to keep the home front running. in addition to the women working on the home front, nearly 350,000 women served in uniform both at home and abroad directly supporting the war effort as code breakers, air force service pilots and volunteers for organization such as the army nurse corps. the work carried out by women on the home front during world war

ii opened the door for women to hold jobs more than ever before and long past time that congress recognized their contributions to our nation. i would like to thank my colleague, representative norton, for introducing this important legislation. i would like to extend my gratitude to ms. keney who developed this idea when she was in fifth grade to ensure that the millions of women who worked on the home front during world war ii are recognized and celebrated. i urge my colleagues to vote yes on h.r. 5068 and i reserve. he speaker pro tempore: the jo -- gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. wittman: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in strong support h.r. 5068 which would authorize who

worked on the home front to have a commemorative work to recognize the commitment and service represented by women who worked on the home front during world war ii. hese 19 these 19 million american women stepped to support their country in world war ii. they worked in a variety of roles, including code breakers, aircraft testing pilots and trainers, welders, steam fitters, telegraph operator, radio and electrical engineer, surveyor, assemblyline workers, as they replaced men who were heading off to war. some 300,000 virginians served in uniform and more than 11,000 never returned home. for many women the war provided increased opportunities to serve their community, their nation, and to aid in the war effort.

the work women did during world war ii can never be fully measured and their impact on our national welfare for the decades that followed should forever be enshrined in our national story. the beneficial contribution women made during the war were felt locally here in virginia as well as across the nation. for example, the witch monday -- the richmond engineering company employed women welders who made bomb heads. at new port news shipyard women worked as crane operators, electricians, mechanics and more as members of the rit call defense production task force. in recent years congress has also established the rosie the riveter national historic park in california to further highlight the work of these incredible patriots during the war. authorizing this commemorative work in our nation's capital is another fitting tribute to the brave, strong, multitalented, intelligent women who helped us

win the war. i urge adoption of the measure and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from michigan is ecognized. mrs. dingell: i yield five minutes to the gentlewoman from the district of columbia. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from the district of columbia, ms. norton is recognized. ms. norton: i thank the gentlewoman for yielding and i want to thank chair grijalva for taking the women who worked on the home front world war ii memorial act to the floor, aappreciate that he allowed me to sit in and ask questions and he conducted this hearing and pressed this forward quickly. this bipartisan bill would authorize the establishment of a memorial on federal land here in the district of columbia commemorating the efforts of 18 million american women who kept the home front running during world war ii. women are dramatically

underrepresented in our memorials. a 17-year-old constituent of worked on kinney, who the women who work thond home front foundation, came up with the idea to honor the women on the home front who supported the world war ii effort. she wondered why the women on the home front whose efforts were so instrumental in maintaining the stability of the country during world war ii have not received much recognition for their contributions compared to the men who fought bravely in world war ii. this bill would authorize the women who worked on the home front foundation to establish a memorial to honor these women. e memorial is designed to be interactive and to educate

visitors on the important roles women play during world war ii. no federal funds will be required. between 1940 and 1945, the percentage of women in the work 27% to creased from nearly 37% and by 1945, one in four married women worked outside the home. the work dobe by women on the home front opened depoors women in the workplace generally and had a profound effect on the job market going forward and even up to today. as a result of their efforts, women on the home front redefined many occupations that were especially considered men's work. i thank the gentlelady for yielding. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from michigan is recognized. mrs. dingell: i reserve.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. wittman: i ask the gentlelady if she has fourth speakers. mrs. dingell: i have no more speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. wittman: i have no further speakers and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields, the gentlewoman from michigan is recognized. mrs. dingell: thank you to the gentleman and to all the members of the natural resources committee for making this a reality. i want to thank my colleague, ms. eleanor holmes norton, for the work she did. as we talk about this bill, several years ago with my then republican colleague candace miller did the first honor flight of rosie the riveters. we went to the world war ii memorial. it was incredible. take theme a place to will be very special and i hope we're able to do it before they -- while some of them can appreciate what we are doing

this. bipartisan legislation will honor the 18 million american women who played a key role in our nation's war effort during world war ii through their efforts on the home front. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman -- the gentlewoman yields. the gentleman from -- the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5068 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from michigan seek recognition? mrs. dingell: i move that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill s. 375 . the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 3758, an act to amend the klamath basin water supply enhancement act of 2000

to make certain technical crecks. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from michigan, mrs. dingell, and the gentleman from virginia, mr. wittman, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from michigan, mrs. dingell. mrs. dingell: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from michigan is recognized. mrs. dingell: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. dingell: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of s. 3758, which addresses two issues regarding the bureau of reclamation, water, and power management. first, the bill amends klamath basin water supply enhancement act of 2000 to support water -- water conservation and efficiency measures in the klamath basin.

this bill provides additional authorization for reclamation to work the klamath basin irrigators on activities that align water supplies and demand. further, this legislation would extend the use of drought relief funding to certain conservation measures, land idling, and ground water uses. second, the bill also carries provisions to make two irrigation districts in eastern montana eligible to continue to receive project use power from the bureau of reclamation. i appreciate the efforts from senators america lee and wyden to advance this bill and urge my colleagues to support its adoption. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. wittman: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. wittman: i rise in reluctant support of s. 3758. while this bill makes important technical corrections that will

provide relief to the klamath basin irrigators who have been hard hit by drought, it also includes a provision that perpetuates a 75-year mistake. in 1946, the bureau of reclamation intrt into contracts with two irrigation entities in montana to provide project use power, better known as p.u.p. normally these rates are reserved for federal projects. however for reasons lost to who ry, these two entities are not part of federal contract, one is a private company, have been able to retain and renew their p.u.p. contracts. recently the bureau of reclamation realized it lacked the authority to provide these two entities p.u.p. rates and decided to let the contracts expire december 31, 2020. it is extremely concerning that it took the bureau of reclamation 75 years to realize

it made a mistake which makes this situation quite unique. this unfortunate mistake by bureaucrats left more than 130 family farms in limb bowe, uncertain if they'll be able to afford to maintain their farmland after january 1, 2021. while we are not opposing this fix today the committee wants to be clear that this is a one-off, unique situation. we do not see this as a pathway or precedent for other irrigation districts to follow. at this point i would like to insert into the record two legal opinions from the department of the interior office of the solicitor which indicate that the department did not have the legal authority to enter into p.u.p. contracts with the two program entities because there's no federal nexus. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. wittman: thank you, mr. chairman. excuse me, mr. speaker. i reserve the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from michigan is recognized. mrs. dingell: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. wittman: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from oregon, mr. walden. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. walden: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank my colleagues for bringing this legislation forward and especially chairman grijalva and ranking member bishop. also want to thank senators merkley and wyden for their work on this too. irgators in the klamath basin have faced another drought-stricken year. there's been a lot we've done to help them over time. i've been involved in these issues for more than 20 years now and it is -- it's one of the most vexing water systems in the country when you try and parse it all together, make it all work. and couple that with federal requirements and tribal rights and then get a drought year and we get in really bad shape.

this year, my welcome -- i welcome secretary of interior and commissioner to the klamath basin, they got a firsthand look at what our farmers were facing there secretary bern hart was the first secretary of the interior to visit the klamath basin in about 0 years. we were appreciative he took time personally to come out there. we're thankful for the trump administration listening to us. they committed to provide funding to ensure we have the best science available to make better decisions by the federal government when it comes to the allocation of water. today in this legislation, we're providing yet another tool to help farmers. this legislation would give the bureau of reclamation the authority to spend $10 million each over the next four years to implement measures including ground water pumping and water movement through the bureau of reclamation facilities. this is essential for the survival of irrigated agriculture in the basin. i look forward to continues to work with congress, the administration and officials to

find durable, lasting solutions for the farmers and ranchers in the klamath basin. i thank our colleagues for bringing this bill forward, urge its passage and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentlewoman from michigan is recognized. mrs. dingell: i have no further requests for time and would inquire whether my colleague has remaining speakers. mr. wittman: i just have a short closing statement and then i will yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. wittman: i'd like to commend congressman walden for his sponsorship of the house companion bill h.r. 7116 that makes the needed, noncontroversial technical corrections to the klamath basin water supply act so all the benefits can be accessed. congressman gianforte is also supporting his constituents which mir throrse montana provisions contained within s. 3758. again i'd like to thank all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to work this order resolve

this issue so that folks in these regions can have certainty about the water that they so desperately need. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from michigan, mrs. dingell. mrs. dingell: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to commend my colleague, mr. walden, for his leadership trying to bring this together with mr. gianforte and finding an answer. i'm going to miss my friend deeply so he better stay engaged and make sure we do this right. i want to thank mr. wittman for working with him this afternoon on the passage of this and several other critical bills. and all the leadership, natural resources committee and again what happens when republicans an democrats work together, we can really get things done. mr. speaker, this legislation will help address water conservation in the power -- and the power challenges in the klamath basinism urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields. the question is will the house splules and pass senate bill 3758. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended this ebill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman rom, mr. defazio rise? mr. defazio: i ask to take from senate 4765. table the clerk: and greensboroo, north carolina as the senator hague and traffic control tower. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to the consideration of the bill?

without objection. the bill is read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon seek recognition? mr. defazio: i move the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5139 stop sexual assault and harassment in the transportation act as amended. the clerk: h.r. 5139 a bill to protect transportation passengers from sexual assault and harassment and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from oregon, mr. defazio and the gentlewoman from west virginia, mrs. miller each will control 20 minutes. mr. defazio: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on h.r. 51 as amended.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. defazio: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 5139, the stop sexual assault and harassment in transportation act as amended. the number one goal in transportation of people whether across town or across the ocean, in the air, on the ground, on he sea is that there should be comprehensive policies in place for those companies that are entrusted with their well-being. while it estimated that 90% of u.s. companies have a sexual larsment policy on the books, one in five doesn't provide training and can lead passengers vulnerable. some people may wonder where

this problem is as rampant and ask if there is enough organized data to shed light on this issue. and i have to say no, that's the problem. there is no accumulated data and no federal clearinghouse for transportation-related sexual assault. the lack of data leaves the traveling public in the dark about the risks. sexual assault and harassment constitutes a growing problem. f.b.i. investigations of in-flight sexual assaults on passenger airplanes rose from 38 o 119 in 2019. many people continue report. according to 2018 national study, 17% of all respondents experienced sexual harassment d since 2016, 260 sexual

assaults on cruise ships have been reported and frequently unreported crime. in recent year there are no industry that is plagued that transportation network companies such as uber and lyft. 4 women sued lyft. uber identified 6,000 sexual assaults and seamented sexual assaults on its platform in 2017 and 2018 and evidence suggests that sexual assault is a big problem for transportation network companies. taxi companies don't share the data to provide a data. my hometown, i live live in springfield, oregon, we had one of the t.n.i.'s operating all of

their drivers had been through background checks which are laughable. they gene police insisted go through background checks and found 12 people totally disqualified by the their own standards. 12. ne murderer, one rapist and 10 serious felons. they were picking up alone from bars at 1:00 in the morning. and the company didn't know it. and in fact, those companies have fought, we are the last state that isn't bound by state law. they have been lobbying all the states to say, you can't keep track of this. you cannot require more vigorous background checks and 49 of the states have caved in to them under threat of losing their services.

my state hasn't. this has got to stop. that's why the committee on transportation and infrastructure passed my bill, h.r. 5139. this bill will one, require transportation providers to establish formal policies addressing sexual harassment. two, direct employees to receive training. how to recognize and respond to potential human trafficking activities, something that have been identified numerous times by flight attendants who have alerted authorities and other workers in transportation. and three, charge the d.o.t. with establishing the first ever federal clearinghouse for transportation-related sexual assaults, harassment and child trafficking to allow the traveling public to fully understand the scope of the problem and spur further action. we can no longer allow sexual

violence to persist on our roads, waters and skies. we must do everything to ensure that the public trfings is safe for everyone working in it and who use it. this bill will track, respond to and prevent sexual assault and harassment within all areas of our transportation system, brings us one step closer to attaining that goal. i express my appreciation for the supporters of this bill. endorsed by the american association of justice and national endance, the center on sexual exploittation, rights for girls and the transportation trades department. and i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from west virginia is recognized. ms. miller: i yield myself such time as i may consume.

i rise in support of the goal of h.r. 5139 to prevent incidents of sexual assault and harassment in transportation. passengers should feel safe while traveling and transportation workers should feel safe in their workplace. no one condones sexual misconduct in the transportation sector or anywhere for that matter. that is why the transportation and infrastructure committee and congress took such a strong bipartisan stance against this type of behavior in air transportation in the f.a.a. re-authorization act of 2018. i appreciate chair defazio working with the minority to address technical concerns with e bill to avoid unattended issues. i urge support of this legislation. and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman reserves. the gentleman from oregon. mr. defazio: i thank the gentlelady for her support and the support of the other republican members. ere were technical pe issues related to particular modes of transportation and the minority wanted to get this bill done and we worked out those concerns and everybody should support this and hopefully it will be unanimous. i ask unanimous consent to enter a letter from chairman nadler agreeing to waive consideration of h.r. 519 as amended as well as my response to chairman nadler expressing appreciation for his willingness to work cooperatively. the speaker pro tempore: the request will be considered in germ leave. with without objection. mr. defazio: there is a section hat got left out of my opening remarks.

and this is a stunning number. 68%.s. airlines alone, 68%, of flight attendants say they have experienced sexual harassment during their careers. in fact, in november 8, 2019, a flight of a major airline diverted due to passenger groping. the risk of unwelcomed and threatening environment is real for passengers and employees alike. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the entleman reserves. the gentlewoman from west virginia. ms. miller: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. miller: there isn't any doubt that all members support the intent of 5139. like all of you, i want to ensure that sexual misconduct in

transportation is eliminated. i urge support of this legislation and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields. the gentleman from oregon is ecognized. mr. defazio: i recognize the gentlelady from washington, d.c., for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from washington is recognized, ms. holmes norton. ms. norton: i thank my good friend. i support the stop sexual assault and harrisment in transportation act which would institute reporting requirements includingger carriers airlines, vessels, buses, commuter and intercity, passenger railroad, companies like uber and lyft. this includes that the department of transportation to

collect information on the number of sexual assault and harassment incidents and to make that information publicly available which representative rick crawford and i included in our aware act. until we collect this information, the full magnitude of the problem will not be understood. flight18 survey of 2,000 attendants, one in five said they received a report of passenger on passenger sexual assault. nearly 70% reported experiencing sexual harassment and one in five reported being sexually assaulted by passengers in fiscal year 2014. 38 instances of in-flight sexual assaults were reported to the

federal bureau of investigation. this number increased to 63 reported cases in 2017. but many instances of in-flight sexual rault remain unreported because victims are fearful of contacting authorities. f.b.i. statistics indicate as many as 75% of incidents go unreported. on cruise ships, sex crimes outweigh any other major offense and 2013 congressional report found that minors were victims n one-third of reported sexual assaults. there was bipartisan support for provision in the federal aviation re-authorization act of 2018 to establish a sexual misconduct working group to address sexual misconduct.

addressing sexual misconduct on flights, employee training and law enforcement notification. this legislation builds upon that work requiring passenger transportation carriers to establish formal policies, training and reporting structures for sexual assault and harassment and adds penalties for individuals who physically or sexually assault or threaten to assault transportation personnel. support the passage of h.r. 5139 so every person can feel safe from violence and harassment. i thank my good friend for yielding. . . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has the only remaining time. the gentlewoman from west virginia yielded back earlier.

mr. defazio: i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5139 as amended. those in favor say aye. podsepose -- those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill s. 2638, friendly airports for mothers improvement act. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 2639, an act to amend united states code to

require small hub airports to construct areas for nursing mothers and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, and the gentlewoman from west virginia each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. >> i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on s. 2638. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> i rise in support of s. 2638, the friendly airports for mothers improvement act, introduced in the senate by senator tammy duckworth of illinois. this is a commonsense bill that requires small hub airports to maintain lactation areas for nursing mothers and a baby changing table in men's and women's restrooms.

as a result of this legislation, small hub airports will begin to come in line with the medium an large hub airports who were charged with meeting the same requirements as a result of the f.a.a. -- f.a.a. re-authorization act of 201. mr. carbajal: similar legislation was introduced in the house by representative carol miller and passed in this chamber in 2019. i want to thank senator duckworth and representative miller for their leadership on this issue and urge my colleagues to vote in favor of s. 2638. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from west virginia, mrs. miller is recognized. mrs. miller: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. miller: i rise in support of senate bill 2638, the friendly airports for mothers improvement act. traveling with infants is often

stressful on new mothers and new fathers. i think back to when i was a young mom traveling with my sons, chris and sam, and now traveling with their wives who just blessed us with our sixth grandchild, and to all moms an dads across the country who face the distinct challenges of traveling with their babies, let alone babies plus a sibling who could be a toddler which is often the case. this bill helps to lessen anxiety when traveling and allows mothers to have a quiet, private space to care for their young ones. i introduced similar legislation h.r. 3362 earlier this year to help accomplish this goal and i am pleased to see this issue brought to a vote today. as air travel continues to be one of the most preferred and popular means of transportation, we need to make sure that airport infrastructure is properly updated to fit the needs of american mothers and

fathers and american families. s. 2638 should require small hub airports to construct mothers' rooms, which are areas where mothers can nurse their children in privacy rather than a restroom. think how disgusting that would be. mom nose that there is nothing comforting or nurturing about nursing a baby in an unsanitary condition of an airport bathroom. the f.a.a. re-authorization act of 2018 required all large and medium hub airports to construct mothers' rooms by 2021. this bill would help fill the remaining gap and similarly require small hub airports to install mothers' rooms, extending the coverage to 97% of all travelers. with the pandemic, travel has become even more difficult. so the timing of this bill couldn't be more appropriate because it emphasizes the need for congress to come together to

pass bipartisan support for the covid crisis without which our airports may continue to be empty. i urge all my colleagues to support s. 2638 and reserve the plans of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. carbajal: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. mrs. miller: mr. speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentleman from louisiana, ranking member of the aviation subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you. i want to thank the gentlelady from west virginia. mr. speaker, thank you for the recognition. i want to thank congressman defazio, chairman defazio and ranking member sam graves for their work on this legislation. once again, mr. speaker, that is demonstration of bipartisan cooperation, what we were sent here to do as opposed to the

politics we have all seen that has hijacked our government in recent months. mr. graves: the reality is the real needs of the american public and this is an example of that. this legislation is very simple. airports are not like other traditional road ways. you have a runway that's usually at most airports one runway and that's it. when that runway goes down that airport can't function. can't have flights come in. can't have commercial or general aviation operations. this legislation very simply allows for incentive-based contracting where you can reduce the amount of time that it takes you to do your construction project, diminishes delays on vacation, on family visits, on business travel and all the important things that are facilitated by our aviation infrastructure by airports. again, it's simp -- it simply allows us to more quickly address safety issue, capacity issues, expansion issues in airports and the bottom line is this ultimately is a saver for taxpayers because if we can

resume operations it allows the traveling public to advance the economy to flow and allows the aviation taxes to also continue flowing. again i want to thank mr. defazio, i want to thank congressman larson, congressman graves and all those who worked together on this important legislation and i urge adoption. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. carbajal: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from west virginia is recognized. mrs. miller: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is are exniced. mrs. miller: as stated, the aim of this bill ensuring that mothers and families with young children have proper facilities while traveling is a need that is long overdue and it is high time that we fix it. i have a personal story. in the 1980's, i was traveling with my husband, my two sons. one was in diapers, one was a toddler. i handed the one in diapers to

my husband when i realized that the baby needed to be changed and he took the baby and the paraphernalia with him to the men's restroom to take care of the baby. when he comes back he hands me a child who is crying, looks at his mommy and reaches out and my husband said, i did the best i could with what i had. he went into a bathroom that had sinks lined up on the wall so he had to place the baby on top of two sinks to take care of business. i'll leave the rest up to you but we did do the best we could and thank the lord we now are going to be in modern times and take care of families the way they should be, having the appropriate things in both bathrooms. i urge all members to support this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. carbajal: thank you, mr. speaker. affording women lactation stations is something that i was

very proud to have done as we are now doing with small airports. we did it for all county facilities in county government. when i was county supervisor. some really -- so i'm really glad to see that this bipartisan bill is moving forward and to that end, mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to support the legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass senate bill 2638. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid n the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. carbajal: i move that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill s. 4075, r.l.f. act. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill.

the clerk: senate 4075, an act to amend the public works and economic development act of 1965 to provide for the release of certain federal interest in connection with certain grants under that act and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california -- for what purpose does the gentleman -- pursuant to the rule the gentleman from california and the gentlewoman from west virginia each will control 20 minutes to control the time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. carbajal: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of s. 4075, the reinvigorating lending for the future act. this bipartisan legislation will help cut through red tape and allow greater levels of local investment in economic development projects by allowing the economic development administration to waive federal interests in certain revolving loan funds. the e.d.a. supports economic development by providing seed capital to local revolving loan funds that offer low interest

loans to help new businesses get off the ground. those loans are rapid with interest and the r.l.f. manager would loan the funds out again to other businesses. this strategy had been highly effective and more than 500 r.l.f. are in operation today. but unlike other e.d.a. grants, the federal interest in these funds remain in perpetuity. r.l.f. managers must report and the e.d.a. must track these funds. no matter how many times they are lent out and repaid. and the funds can never be repurposed for other economic development projects. the r.l.f. act fixes this bureaucratic nightmare by allowing the secretary of commerce to release the federal interest in these funds after seven years. provided that the funds are used for other approved economic

development projects like the development of public infrastructure or work force training. this bill cuts through the red tape and allows for the local control our regions need to invest in the most beneficial economic development projects for their communities. this legislation has broad bipartisan support and is endorsed by the national association of development organizations and the international economic development council, two of the largest economic development advocacy groups in the country. i urge my fellow colleagues to support this bill and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from west virginia is recognized. mrs. miller: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. miller: s. 4075, the r.l.f. act, would release the federal interest in the economic development administration's revolving loan funds after seven

years. if requested by the recipient. i want to thank congressman katko, the ranking member of the subcommittee on economic development, public buildings and emergency management, for his leadership and work on this issue. this fix to reduce the burden of r.l.f. funds was requested by the administration as well as state and local economic development first. after the funds have turned over, local first continue to be saddled with unnecessary paperwork. when the government's role is over, will release first of the extra paperwork. i urge support of this legislation. and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the jam reserves. mr. carbajal is recognized. mr. carbajal: i ask unanimous consent that all members may

have five legislative days to include extraneous material on h.r. 4075. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. carbajal: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from west virginia. ms. miller: i continue to reserve. mr. carbajal: i'm prepared to close, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. i'm prepared to close as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized to close. ms. miller: i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. miller: mr. speaker, s. 40775 will cut red tape and reduce paperwork for the communities that receive e.d.a. grants for revolving loan funds.

i urge support of this important legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the jam yields back. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. carbajal: i urge passage and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house pass 075. e bill 4 those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. carbajal: i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5912, expedited delivery of airport sfrarbg act of 2020. the clerk: h.r. 5912 a bill to ealed title 49 united states code to permit the use of incentive payments to support

development projects. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. carbajal and the gentleman from great state of missouri, mr. gaves, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognize the gentleman from california. mr. carbajal: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 5912 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. carbajal: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. carbajal: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support h.r. 5912 the expedited delivery of airport infrastructure act of 2020.

introduced by representative sam graves and ranking member of the house committee on transportation and infrastructure, the bill incentivizes the early completion of projects funded by the federal aviation administration improvement program. although current airline passenger traffic has declined due to the coronavirus pandemic, there will come a time when domestic and air travel will return to its pre-pandemic heights and continue to grow further. airports will have to keep up with growing passenger demand. this legislation will help to address this future need by allowing airports to use their a.i.p. funding to offer payments to contractors for early completion of airport development projects. importantly, h.r. 5912 includes conditions that ensures projects completed early do not have a

negative impact on airport safety, efficiency or capacity. i support this legislation and i urge my colleagues to do the same. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. graves: i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 5912, the expedited delivery of airport infrastructure act of 2020. this bill which i'm proud to have introduced gives airports the options to use their improvement programs or a.i.p. money to expedite early completion of airport projects. incentives are used in the surface transportation area and as encouraging early completion of road projects can spare drivers from sitting in traffic. airfield is no different. taking a runway or taxi way out

of commission can impa pair capacity and results in flight delays, upset travelers, you name it. additionally some airports are racing against the clock to complete projects even if the project is on schedule and early winner or a late spring could grind to a halt. this bill is going to help ensure that airports have the tools necessary to avoid these situations and get runways back into service faster. the bill allows airports to achieve cost savings, projects completed early in avoiding price increases due to inflation. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 5912 and with that, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. carbajal: i reserve the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. mr. graves: i don't have any speakers at this time, so with that, i yield back and i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 5912. mr. carbajal: i urge my colleagues to support this legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5912 as amend the. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the bill is passed. and without objection is laid on the table. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. carbajal: i move the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4470 rename the saint lawrence seaway development corporation the great lakes st. lawrence seaway development corporation as amended. the clerk: a bill to rename the

saint lawrence seaway development corporation the great lakes st. lawrence seaway development corporation. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california and the gentleman from missouri each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. carbajal: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 4470 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. carbajal: mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of h.r. 4470. this legislation introduced by the gentlewoman from ohio, representative marcy kaptur, is simple in its intent and strong in its meaning. it would rename the saint lawrence seaway development corporation as the great lakes st. lawrence seaway development corporation. this is a 328 nautical mile deep

draft waterway between the port f montreal and lake erie and connects the atlantic ocean, the u.s. portion of the seaway and operated by the saint lawrence seaway development corporation. this change would more accurately portray the scope of the agency and clarify the agency's mission is of benefit to the saint lawrence region as well as the entire great lakes region. i thank representative kaptur for her work on this bill and i urge all members to support h.r. 4470 and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from missouri. gravesgraves with that, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. graves: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 4470.

the name of the st. lawrence the corporation will reflect the ographic location to its nation. the corporation is charged with operating and maintaining all u.s. infrastructure and waters of the st. lawrence seaway. the corporation is tasked with developing trade focus on driving economic activity for the entire seaway system. i urge support of the bipartisan legislation to better represent with this federally opened corporation means to the great lakes. i resevere the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. carbajal: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. mr. graves: i don't have any speakers. with that, i yield back. and i urge support of h.r. 4470. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. carbajal: i urge my

colleagues to support the legislation and i yield back the ball aps of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4470 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. carbajal: i move the house suspend the rules and pass s. act.save our seas 2.08 he clerk: an act to improve to combat marine debris and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, and the gentleman from missouri, each will control 20 minutes. mr. carbajal: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days

within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on s. 1982 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. carbajal: mr. speaker, i rise in full support of s. 1982, important bipartisan legislation to further improve our national capabilities to respond to the global problem of marine debris, especially impacts caused by plastic waste on the ocean environment. it is any trash or liter that ends up in the marine environment or great lakes. it originates from a wide variety of locations and travels great distances before ending up in the ocean. marine debris is everywhere and found around every major body of water on the planet and along every shoreline in the world no

matter how remote. these materials pose a substantial threat to marine life who might inguess or get entangsled. but equally important, it threatens public health and safety in the form of degraded water quality, increased exposure to chemicals and damage to vessels. the legislation before us in corpts the contribution of no less than six different committees who offered several targeted amendments to improve it. of note, i want to thank chairman grijalva, chair engel, chair pallone, chair peterson and represent of staffs in refining this noncontroversial legislation so it can be considered today. as amended, this legislation will provide an increase in annual funding under the marine debris act to $15 million, a 50%

increase over existing authorized funding levels. this funding increase should help to strengthen current programs add minimum sterted by n omp arch a and u.s. coast guard through innovation and entrepreneurship. moreover this legislation authorizes new approaches to address the international complexity of marine debris, most notely through the establishment of a charitable nonprofit marine debris foundation. it provides funding to agencies to maintain international leadership on marine did he brie and provides support for plastic waste mitigation. the bill is not perfect but a very positive addition to the legislation passed last congress to re-authorize the marine debris act. and considering the scale, it

stands to reason that this will not be the last bill congress enacts to address a serious environmental problem. i want to thank my colleague from oregon for her leadership on this issue and tireless advocacy to get this bill through the house. this is a good piece of bipartisan legislation that deserves support from members on both sides of the aisle and i urge its passage today. i reserve. . . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. >> the gentleman -- >> i'm pleased that the s.o.s. 2.0 act is considered for consideration today. last congress we passed the save our seas act building on the work of the ma reeve debris act which combats sol rid -- solid

waste. s.o.s. 2.0 builds on those efforts to combat marine debris and authorizing a genius award to promote improved ocean cleanup technology. mr. braves: the bill also authorizes studies and grant programs to better understand the causes of ocean pollution and improve how we prevent and eliminate this pollution. i commend representative don young for his work on this bill. his district was hit particularly hard from marine debris arriving from japan after the 2011 tsunami that tsunami drove one ghost fishing boat from japan to the test of alaska before being sunk by the coast guard, just one example of how far debris can travel. i want to thank chairman defazio for working on changes to this bill with us. i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is

recognized. mr. carbajal: i yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from oregon, ms. bonamici. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. bonamici: i want to thank chairman defazio for his ongoing efforts to help us bring this important bill to the floor today. as the co-chair of the house oceans caucus, i rise in strong support of save our seas 2.0, a bill to clean up marine debris. every minute, the equivalent of a garbage truck full of plastic is dumped into our ocean. according to the united nations, that's more than eight million tons a year. plastic bottles, straw, grocery bags, cigarette butts, and abandoned vessels litter the ocean. after the tsunami hit the coast of japan in 2011, large materials like docks and boats that carried invasive species ended up on the shores of northwest oregon.

tiny pieces of plastic also make their way into marine life, blocking didi jestic tracts, altering growth and in some cases killing marine mammals and fisheries. we still don't know how long it takes for plastic to completely biodegrade. estimates rage from 450 years to never. a recent study found without action by 2040 the annual flow of plastic into the ocean could nearly triple to 29 million metric tons. let me be clear. we need to fundamentally change our reliance on plastic. plastics pollute our oceans and exacerbate the climate crisis. the fossil fuel and plastics industries are deeply connected and plastics contribute a sig can share of industrial emissions in the united states. a problem this pervasive, a global problem of this magnitude, cannot be solved with a single bill. we cannot limit our action to removing existing plastic from the ocean and we can also not

recycle our way out of plastic waste that ends up on our shores. we need comprehensive action. but today we have the opportunity to build on our foundation of bipartisan, bicameral efforts to strengthen the noaa marine debris program. save our seas 2.0 will improve domestic response to marine debris by supporting noaa's work, advance the removal and prevention of plastic waste and establish a pilot program to provide incentives for the proper disposal of marine debris collected at sea. e bill will incentivize by raising awareness about the effects of mising mored waste and assess the po tenable for a new international agreement to address marine debris. save our seas 2.0 will strengthen infrastructure to prevent new marine debris by providing funds to states and

localities and renew opportunities to minimize the production of new plastic waste. the ocean is resilient and we can help it heal but we cannot afford to wait. we have significant work ahead to prevent marine the brie and save our seas 2.0 continues to build on a bipartisan foundation to protect the ocean. i want to close by thanking my colleague and co-chair of the house oceans caucus, representative don -- don young of alaska, for his work on this bill and to our senate colleague, senators sullivan and whitehouse. i urge my colleagues to support to bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. braves: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i yield such time heas may consume to the gentleman from alaska, the dean of the house, mr. young. mr. young: i thank the gentleman, thank congressman graves for yielding to me and i again support this bill s. 1982

2.0. this is a great bipartisan bill and i congratulate my colleague, the caucus co-chair, suzanne bonamici, for her work. this is our bill. it's a senate bill but it's a bill that's been work -- we've been working on. i agree with everything said about the pollution in our oceans. this is probably bigger than the oil spill of the exxon valdez, the plastics in our seas. we have to address this issue. we need to do more. we have to take a short step first an will continue to do it. in alaska the ocean is our highway. we need to clean it. we want to work on it. we have to address that issue. at sea too. plastic is one of those things that do not deteriorate very rapidly but when it does fish will eat it and we get contaminated fish. we don't need that in alaska. it will clean up our oceans as i mentioned before and in

cooperation with other countries. america is not the worst polluter. other countries pollute as much or more. we have an area as big as the state of texas pull of pollution, we have to start cleaning it up and stopping it if we can. i'd like to thank the chairman, peter defazio, ranking member graves for his work, chairman engel for his work and the staffs peblesly. john rayfield, jay rah, a and my personal staff, kevin and kayla, they worked very hard on this legislation, a lot of work. the bill is truly a bipartisan bill. what a way to finish up this session with a bipartisan bill working together to solve a universal problem, debris in our oceans. it shows we can work together. i encourage continuation of this type of effort to make sure our oceans are clean forever. i urge my colleagues to support s. 1982 and remember dan sullivan introduced it on the senate side that's why we're taking up the senate bill, but

it's really a house bill. i want to thank my ranking member and chairman though he's not here. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. carbajal: i ask unanimous consent to enter into the congressional record letters from the following committee agreeing to waive consideration of s. 1982 as well as chair defazio's response expressing appreciation for everyone working cooperatively on this legislation. chairwoman johnson, house committee on science, space, an technology, chair peterson, house committee on agriculture, chair grijalva, house committee on natural resources, chair engel, house committee on foreign affairs, and chair pallone, house committee on energy and commerce. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. carbajal: i wish to yield ed minute to representative

case of hawaii. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. case: the air, land and orte must be saved but the oceans are the most vast of these and with the most risk from pollution, extraction and marine debris. debris is especially acute in my own pacific and its epicenter the 1,500 long hawaiian islands chain which acts as a giant home for all manner of marine trash. 52 metric tovens debris clutter our marine national monument annually with tons more on the shores of the main hawaiian islands. the result rts human health and safety problems, habitat destruction, vessel damages and navigational hazards, invasive species transport and beach and coastline destruction. the save our seas 2.0 act up ours national ante on this critical issue by bolstering and funding actions that can make a real different. i urge passage.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. graves: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. carbajal: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. mr. graves: i don't have anyone else to speak so with that i urge my colleagues to support the bill and yield back the balance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. carbajal: i urge my colleagues to support the legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass senate bill 1982 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended this ebill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the ordering of the yeas and nays on the motion of the -- that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5572 be vacated to the end that the chair put the question de novo. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection? without objection, so ordered.

the question is on the motion offered by the gentlewoman. will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5572 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended this ebill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman, mrs. lowey, seek recognition? mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, pursuant to house resolution with i call up h.r. 925 the senate amendments thereto, and i have a motion at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill, designate the senate amendments and designate the motion. the clerk: h.r. 925, aen act to extend the authorization of appropriations for allocation teoscarry out approved wetlands conservation projects urn the

north america wetlands conservation act through fiscal year 2024, senate amendment. mrs. lowey moves that the house concur in the senate amendment to the title of h.r. 925 and the house concur in the senate amendment to the text of h.r. 925 with an amendment consisting of the text of rules committee print 116-66. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the house resolution 1161, the motion shall be debated for two hours equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the committee on appropriations. the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. lowey, is now recognized for one hour and the gentlewoman from texas is also recognized for one hour. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and

extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the house amendments to the senate amendments to h.r. 925. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the ntlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of updated version of the heroes act. the health and economic catastrophe facing our country continues to cry out for urgent action. in may, a bipartisan majority in the house passed the heroes act to provide critical support for our country to crush the coronavirus so that we can protect lives and reopen our economy. unfortunately, that legislation has lingered for more than four

months, as president trump continues to downplay the severity of this pandemic. this updated version of the heroes act seeks to meet republicans halfway while addressing needs that have grown since may. as speaker pelosi and secretary mnuchin continue their negotiations, the house's consideration of this legislation formalizes this body's proffer in these negotiations. to that end, we have updated the earlier versions of the heroes act by including strength and support for small businesses, additional assistance for airline industry workers and more funds for the children, for schools, for post-secondary

education and child care. near and dear to my heart, we have also added ar substantial investment in global public health that will save lives at home and abroad. moreover, house democrats have maintained many of the earlier priorities of the heroes act that includes $436 billion for state, local, territorial and tribal governments to pay vital frontline workers. $75 billion for coronavirus testing, contact tracing and isolation measures. and $28 billion for procurement, distribution and education campaigns for a safe and effective vaccine. additional direct payment to families, strong enforceable

workplace safety standards, changes to preserve health care for unemployed americans and extension of unemployment benefits, housing assistance so renters and homeowners can stay in their homes, food assistance, so struggling families can put food on the table. and protections for our emocracy with funding for safe elections and accurate census nd the postal service. mr. speaker, this legislation represents a compromise that delivers for american families. negotiations are continuing and i ardently hope that we can soon return to this floor with a bipartisan agreement. in the meantime, a strong vote

tonight will show our will to act and bring us closer to delivering much needed relief to american families. i urge support for this critical legislation. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. granger: i rise today in opposition to this bill. unform by considering this bill today, we are abandonning the spirit of bipartisan that has allowed us to work across the aisle four times this year to pass critical coronavirus relief legislation. this bill was crafted without input from members on our side of the aisle and does not have the support needed to pass the senate or be signed by the president. there are some things included that i support such as helping small business that are

desperate for a lifeline, enabling the airline industry to continue to pay its employees, providing additional assistance to help schools continue reopening and increasing testing for the virus. yet i cannot overlook or overstate the significant problems i have with this bill. first it totals more than $2 trillion, which is more than we appropriate for an entire year. but what may be even more concerning is that buried in the more than 2,000 pages of text are partisan provisions that are unrelated to the pandemic. these additions will not move us any closer to defeating this virus, in fact, it will only further divide us. there is language in the bill that encourages state and local governments to release violent criminals in order to get more funding. it prohibits immigration laws

being carried and enforcement actions to be taken and enables illegal immigrants to receive direct payments and stalls the census that is required by the law to occur every 10 years and provides more than $3 billion in election assistant grants. including so many unnecessary items just to cater to the demands of a few could result in gridlock at a time when compromise and real results are still in reach. after all of the good work we have done together to provide relief and hope to the american people, i'm disappointed that this is the bill that the majority has chosen to bring to the floor. i hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will work with us to put the needs of the american people first just as we have done four other times

since the beginning of this devastating pandemic. time for our leaders to come together rather than take a vote on this damaging partisan bill. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the ntleman -- gentlewoman eserves. the gentlewoman from new york eserves. granggrang i yield to mr. davis for two minutes. mr. davis: thank you, mr. speaker and good friend and ranking member. today we find ourselves in the exact same situation as we were five months ago, voting on a so-called keist bill filled with 71 pages of federal election mandates and that have nothing to do with providing to do with the coronavirus. it is another attempt by

democrats to federalize our elections. 15 days of early voting and specific rules for polling, no excuse for vote by mail, nationalizes ballot harvesting and the list goes on and on. what my democrat colleagues tell the american people, these provisions have nothing to do with the pandemic because they were part of h.r. 1 which passed a year before the pandemic again. i have a bill that would address election issues caused by the pandemic called the ease act. not only am i troubled by this attempt to federalize our elections, but it would change the rules. the u.s. elections project estimates that more than one million people have already voted. some people would vote under one set of rules and if this passed,

some would vote under another set of rules. this is not how elections are run. and there is mass voter confusion. this bill becoming law would be a disaster for election administrators and lead to more confusion surrounding the 2020 election and ultimately more people would be disenfranchised. if this was an attempt to help schools reopen. 71 pages are provisions aimed at federalizing our elections. my friend on the other side of the aisle should offer a clean bill. he parents and business owners furned upside down because of this pap. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i am pleased to yield five minutes to

the distinguished the gentleman from virginia, chairman of the committee on the judiciary, mr. scott. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. scott: i served on judiciary for a little while but chair of education and labor. mr. speaker, i rise in support of the bill and since house democrats firsted pass the heroes act in may, congressional republicans and administration first have refused to advance any meaningful covid-19 relief plan that would help our communities to survive this pandemic. as a result, the american people are bearing the brunt of a public health crisis that is dragging on and getting worse. state and local governments are facing massive budget shortfalls. these shortfalls will slash public education funding. school districts are starting

the new year with without resources they need to open safely, keep their staff on payroll, operate high quality programs remotely and other things they need to make sure our students can become the best they can be. millions of workers are still unemployed and can no longer access the unemployment benefits. and those working during the pandemic are suffering from unsafe working conditions with little protections from covid-19 infections. more than 7 million americans have been infected. 200 million have lost their lives and we don't have a covid strategy. far too many people don't have access to affordable health care as the virus continues to ack sell rate. and according to abc news. the heroes act offers us a

chance to give meaningful relief. the updated heroes act dead indicates over $400 billion to help state and local governments toll avert budget shortfalls. you cannot evaluate any relief package out looking at what you are doing for state and local support. if you don't have state and local support, there will be massive cuts. budget shortfalls projected right now project that are education budgets for state and local governments will be cut by hundreds of billions of dollars. and this package protects and expands students' access to quality education by increasing e relief that the students k-12 districts or more than $200 billion. and it ensures that no federal

student borrower has to worry about loan payments, interest accrual or collections through september of next year. this package invests $58 billion to save our child care industry from collapse and health care will be able to access early learning options. the estimates are if we don't put $10 billion a month into the child care industry, it will dissolve. it supports individuals and families hit by economic downturn by putting money into their pockets. the legislation includes a second round of stimulus checks nd expands the $600 weekly enhanced unemployment benefits through next january and helps with the housing crisis and protect workers who have to work. the legislation directs the occupational safety and health administration to issue

enforceable federal workplace standards to protect all workers from contracting covid 189. in spite of all the problems of the meatpacking industries, prisons, nursing homes and health care there is nor standard to protect workers from covid-19. . . . this also puts the medical and family leave back by expanding access to fmla protections passed in previous relief bills. legislation also provides access to health care by creating a broad open enrollment period so individuals and families can obtain coverage through the affordable care act marketplaces and offers enhanced subsidies for many workers who have lost their jobs. regrettably, mr. chairman, in america most workers who lows their jobs also lose health insurance. this is a safety net to help

them maintain their health insurance coverage. finally the legislation provides robust investments in some of our vital community programs such as the low income home energy assistance program, better known as liheap, and the older americans act programs like meals on wheels. the house democrats first passed the heroes act over four months ago because we had the responsibility to help our -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. ms. le wie: ap additional minute. mr. scott: the house passed the heroes act because we have a responsibility to help our constituents recover from this global health emergency. since then the need has only grown. instead of denying the consequences of the pandemic, we must put politics aside and pass the heroes act. the economists have told us if we don't spend the money now, the economic downturn will be much worse in the future, so we have to pass this bill. i urge my colleagues to support

the legislation. i the senate to take it up immediately. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. gringer: i yield the gentleman from florida, mr. rutherford, two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. rutherford: i thank the gentlelady from texas for yielding. i rise today in disbelief. disbelief that we're back here again wasting american's time considering a stimulus package that has absolutely no chance of ever becoming law. the first heroes act -- the first heroes act was bad enough, this version may be worse. unfortunately the speaker wrote this bill without any input from the rest of congress. americans want a bipartisan response and we stand ready to deliver it. but that's impossible when the speaker writes bills all on her own. now whether they'll admit it or

not i know my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are equally disappointed with this partisan process. in fact, 21 democrats signed on a letter urging the speaker to work with republicans to find a compromise. yet here we go again with a 2,000-page version of the heroes act filled with the same radical proposals and poison pills that again i cannot support. here's the facts. the heroes act provides perform p.p. loans to bail out planned parenthood, banned states from legislating their own voter i.d. law, releases illegal immigrants from prison, and then allows them to receive stimulus checks from the government. also it releases thousands of federal inmates back out onto the streets. it even defunds police support that was in the previous bill. a heroes act? hardly. these are just a few of the reasons why as a former first responders i could never support

this legislation. there is a solution i support. it is sitting right on the speaker's desk waiting to be brought to the floor. my colleagues introduced a simple, clean piece of legislation to make available another round of p.p.p. loans with $137 billion that's left in that program. who in this congress would not support that? i urge speaker pelosi to bring a bipartisan bill to the floor so we can get assistance to those struggling american families that deserve our support. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. lowey, is recognized. mrs. lowey: i'm pleased to yield five minutes to the distinguished gentleman from massachusetts, from my class, the chair of the committee on ways and means, mr. neal. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts, chairman neal is recognized. ms. neal: thank you, madam chairwoman. i stand in support of the updated heroes act. the previous gentleman was

dismissive of the idea that there is some import to this moment in terms of getting a package done. so that means expanding unemployment insurance, that's not important? unemployment insurance that we might consider now which is part of the need of the american family? a reminder, there are 26 million americans right now collecting unemployment insurance. let me put this in terms of what an economist might say. if we don't expand unemployment insurance and keep the $600 supplement, the challenges that people are going to have in terms of daily sustenance for food, paying the rent, paying their utility bills, is going to mean eventually that the

landlord can't collect rents that then subsequently are used to pay for property taxes. and mortgage payments. which means then that they can't make their payments to the credit unions or community bankers which overwhelmingly are the custodians of america's origination in terms of the mortgage markets. so maybe we as two parties might agrea on the following. you don't defeat the virus, you're never going to expedite economic recovery. that's the real argument in front of this chamber at this oment. 200,000 americans, actually about 205,000 americans as of today have died from the pandemic. every one of us at home, we're hearing the desperation of our constituents. let me submit this as well.

when the cares act came before this house only five members of this institution voted against the cares act. you know what else we can all agree on? the cares act saved the american economy you hear that at home from conservatives, liberals, moderates, republicans, democrat, they all rally around that theme. the number of people who are still out of work is astounding. family members who are sick. and they're having trouble paying for food. and republicans suggest somehow you can handle this on your own? this is about the national principle. we all come to the aid of the american family at moments like this. we don't ask whether you're a democrat or a republican, from a red state or blue state, how you voted in the last presidential election. we say that's the family and we have to take care of them. they're looking to this institution today to help them

survive this pandemic. the economic challenges that we have are not about corruption. it's not about economic malfeasance. it's about the reality that the world is confronting the worst pandemic since 1918. the american people are looking to us for leadership. house democrats have stepped up to the plate. just think of it. may 15, we passed the heroes act. when the other side says things like, can we just do something in a bipartisan fashion -- what through this intervening period of time did they offer? not much. we've taken the affirmative position here. the american people need help. the idea of the stimulus checks was, as i noted a moment ago, not just to provide sustenance but most economists would say to help create simultaneous demand.

the speed with which we move these payments along is extraordinary even by contrast to how the institution usually responds. how about the jarring testimony of the chairman of the federal reserve board last week about what this economy needs? how unsettling was it to hear the testimony from the fed about what we should be doing. i'm proud of the role the ways and means committee played in developing this legislation. unemployment insurance. how about expanding the retention tax credit. everybody on the other side of the aisle supports expanding the retention tax credit but that will get in the way of the eventual vote here later on this evening because somehow it doesn't square with their foil softic beliefs. philosophicalheir

beliefs. leadership doesn't mean telling americans -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. neal: this is about the american family. our frontline workers need us now more than ever. can i have another minute? mrs. lowey: another minute. mr. neal: the neighbors we all know needs us more than ever. every person in this nation needs us more than ever. this is a cly sis unlike any in our our lifetime. it calls for real solutions and puts the american family first. we immediate to get this done. vote for this legislation. it's a good piece of constructive work on behalf of the american people. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. granger: i yield to the gentleman from new york, mr. zeldin, for two and a half minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two and a half minutes. mr. zeldin: thank you, mr. speaker. this is not a bill, a vote, a debate that's about national

principle. this is about politics. this is about grand standing. this is about political calculations. this is about the election. you want to talk about leadership, right now there's a real deal, a real counteroffer on the table. $150 billion more for education. $75 billion more for testing and tracing. $250 billion more for state and local government funding. $400 weekly enhancement employment insurance. $60 billion more in rental and mortgage assistance. it adds up to $1.6 trillion, more than the house democrats who are members of the problem solvers caucus asked for, they asked for $1.5 trillion. that is a real counteroffer. instead what you're seeing is a political calculation that's getting made and real lives are at stake. this is a serious offer that is on the table. and instead of sending this chamber home and ending up with nothing, how about we d our jobs and cut a deal because this

right now, this debate is exactly what the american public hates about congress. they hate us for this kind of a debate. they want to see us working together, republicans and democrats, to cut a deal. we have a chair of the appropriations committee from new york. she's a new yorker. we have an m.t.a. that needs money. our state needs money. new york city. the port authority. our local governments on the east end of long island. we should be working together to get something done. this bill has poison pills in it that makes this bill dead on arrival. there are certain pieces in here where we know this is never going to become law. stimulus checks for people who are not in our country legally. nationwide cashless bail. nationwide ballot harvesting. a nationwide prohibition on voter i. deform. releasing criminals from prison. none of that will ever become law. why are we doing that when you have real lives, real people?

go talk to that person that workers in airline and they're being furloughed first thing this morning. they don't have a job to go to. go talk to the m.t.a., the largest mass transit system in the entire country. what they want us to do is to work together to get something done. the speaker is staking her political capital on what benefits her the most politically and what's crazy is that she benefits the most by having the highest death counts. she's benefiting the most by our economy suffering as much as possible. can i have 30 more seconds please? ms. granger: i yield an additional minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has one more minute. mr. zeldin: this is the type of political calculation my constituents absolutely hate. the speaker's biggest decision when we all go home and we go home without a deal is picking between which of her expensive flavors of gourmet ice cream to eat or which closed down salon

to get her next blow out at. but for that furloughed airline worker, they are expecting us to get the job done. i'll tell you what, there's a real deal on the table. before we leave i beg my colleagues, i see congressman espaillat here, he's been leading the charge on s.b.a. funding. thank you, sir. we're all working together as republicans and democrats to get to victory over the finish line. this chamber cannot leave without going this done. i tell my republican colleagues an my democratic colleagues, in the house and the senate, do not leave without getting a deal done. this heroes act is dead on arrival. we all know that. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. lowey, is recognized. mrs. lowey: i would like to address my friend if new york and thank him for expressing the real needs of new york and i do hope you will vote for this bill. thank you. mr. speaker, i'm pleased to

yield three minutes to the gentleman from south carolina, the majority whip, mr. clyburn. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. clyburn: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlelady for yielding me the time. mr. speaker, the select committee on the coronavirus crisis has been working to ensure our response to this pandemic is effective, efficient, and equitable. the heroes act will make this possible. public healthfrom training, t testing, containing is needed to safely reopen. bill includes $75 billion or these public health measures. we've heard from essential workers risking their lives, oing their jobs during this pandemic. mayors of both political parties old us significant federal

assistance is needed to prevent vital uts to jobs and services. billion includes $436 for state, local, territorial, to tribal governments support our heroes and those they serve. protects workers by directing an effective infection control standard. committee's investigations have found that relief programs need to be improved to reach the most vulnerable businesses. heroes act sets aside funds businesses, est seconding nonprofits and loans to businesses who have suffered the most. the bill will assist restaurants and airport concessionaires who

hit.been especially hard ducators and public health experts advise us how to safely reopen schools. legislation provides robust to ing to enable schools educate students while minimizing health risks. current federal reserve chair and his two immediate us that ors told congress must provide additional fiscal support for a strong recovery. enhanced extends unemployment benefits, provides payments, direct expands food assistance, and housing support. finally, voting rights advocates infectious disease doctors alike told the select committee ensure a free, fair, and

must follow we cience-based recommendations for expanded mail-in voting, arly voting, and polling places. the heroes act provides the funds for election the postal on and ervice needed to safeguard our democracy. speaker, that r. if it's between me and opponent steps,ssue requires five i don't mind taking three of them. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. clyburn: but i hope the side will meet us by taking two. back.d the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas. ms. granger: sorry. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. yield to the gentleman from georgia, mr. allen, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for two minutes. mr. allen: thank you very much. mr. speaker, here we are

partisan messaging bill that will never become law. the heroes act 2.0 is the costly attempt to appease their far left base. with a $2.2 trillion price tag. o name just a few of the progressive provisions of this ill, their social wish list requires allowing illeem immigrants to receive stimulus defunding the police, subsidizing obamacare, and removing safeguards that would money from ayer bailing out planned parenthood. families, can workers, and businesses are workingtheir heads down to revitalize our economy, speaker pelosi and democratic are moving forward with a bill that has nothing to covid-19 essing the pandemic and are ignoring moving forward legislation that could small tely support our businesses. thanks to the leadership of our overnor in my home state of

georgia, we are open for business. and leading the nation in recovery. our biggest problem is that we do still have businesses that help. but i hear from business leaders stop thisthat we must expanded unemployment because, their requirements grow, they need their employees to come to work. down 28%, ases are hospitalizations are down 60%. yes, we still have businesses need help. that's why i signed a discharge down there to bring legislation to the floor to extend the paycheck program, and i urge my colleagues to sign that so hat we can get meaningful help to those businesses that need it. i urge the speaker to stop hostage critical assistance for our small

oppose this d partisan power grab. thank you and i yield back. tempore: the o gentleman yields back. the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i am yield two minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman chairwoman of he the military, construction, veterans' affairs subcommittee, wasserman schultz. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you. i thank the gentlelady for yielding. mr. speaker, after four long, painful months, senate continue to block the house-passed heroes act to relief to onavirus the fed up american people. since may, thousands of more businesses have folded. remain jobless. and u.s. debts doubled to 200,000. democrats -- deaths doubled to 200,000. we were at $3 trillion for our original heroes act. the republicans who were at a trillion to meet us them y and here we are

still stuck in the mud, refusing to do what the american people do, to help make sure they can recovery from this pandemic.us -- vital adly, republicans think we are generous with the american people. so many are trying to pay their worst recession since the great depression. my governor just let a evictions expire. he just reopened the state to 100% capacity. the virus is not still state.ng through our democrats offered this updated heroes act to defeat this virus nd put money in the pockets of stressed americans. t is way past time for republicans to meet us halfway. it improves the paycheck protection program for small businesses and nonprofits and local s billions to governments and schools. his bill funds testing and tracing. provides $,200 in -- $1,200 in

payments. extends $400 to unemployment benefits. extends help for airline workers, thousands of whom were off. it helps daycare. bolste bolsters nutrition. strengthens the postal service. it does not go far as democrats would like. that's why we're here to compromise, because we know the to do n people need us that. but it goes a long way to offer what americans desperately need right now. republicans need to stop standing in the way of relief we can to the table so send home a package that's going to take care of the american people in this dire time. yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: i yield to the gentleman from louisiana, he republican whip, steve scalise, for three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. scalise: thank you, mr. speaker. rise today in opposition to this partisan bill that's not

families and ping small businesses. everybody in this chamber knows is going nowhere because they didn't even work draftepublicans to try to a proposal that can actually address the needs of families struggling. there is a bill already filed at the door right over there, a help every small business, renew the paycheck protection program, using money.g there is $138 billion frozen in unlock with at we chabot's bill. congressman chabot has a bill that discharge petition would actually, in a bipartisan way, help small businesses go round of paycheck protection funding. what do we get? today a bill that was brought together by both sides to solve this problem? don't. we have a bill that was drawn old asically using the failed road map of the original heroes act. now, they had the heroes act

way.d in a partisan it was never going to go anywhere months ago. id they say, ok, let's work with republicans? let's work with the president? no, they didn't. said, ok, we want to present a scaled down bill. so mr. speaker, when they scaled bill down, did they cut the dollars of funding to illegal immigrants that was in the original heroes act? they didn't. did they cut the hundreds of that go to dollars failed states, states that had billion-dollar deficits prior to covid? no. they kept that money. and in fact, if you look at the nothing to do with covid. or example, mandating that states that currently require a icture i.d. have to remove that. ballot harvesting, which we've een in so many states leads to voter fraud. that's what's in the original heroes act. this bill.remains in

what does that have to do with covid relief? if you look. take the original bill. heroes act had $600 funding.or police community policing, things that have been proven effective to communities safer, that was in the original heroes act. to cut -- ecided again, they didn't cut the billions for people here illegally. payments if t cash you're here illegally. they cut the police. out.d $600 million, defunding the when our a time communities need help. this was the original bill, the million. it's gone. that's what they cut. they kept the illegal money. illegals.ng to everybody knows this bill's going nowhere because it's a partisan hack job. look at a letter that was sent just a few days ago by the

speaker by 23 democrats, 23 democrats sent a saying -- he speaker ms. granger: i yield an minute.al the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. scalise: i thank the entlelady from texas for yielding. 23 democrats just a few days ago sent a letter to the speaker passing a te, bipartisan covid-19 relief oneage should be our number priority in the coming days. it is our request that you towards a negotiate bipartisan deal. discharge petition is the only potential option for relief. that's 23 democrats. that's enough people if they go over mr. speaker, right there and sign that discharge petition, it will bring that relief package bill to the floor. small businesses. we already helped millions of small businesses stay afloat with the original paycheck

protection program. incredibly bipartisan success story that we came together to pass. million jobs saved by that. we know, mr. speaker, some of businesses are doing better, but some of those businesses are still struggling. vine.t, dying on the and this bill will give them relief. they can go for a second round relief request, p.p.p. funding, with money that already exists. not $2.2 trillion borrowed from china. let's pass a real bill, the bill. let's reject this partisan exercise. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the back.man yields the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i am to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from island, mr. cicilline. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from rhode island is recognized. mr. cicilline: i thank the gentlelady from for yielding. mindful today that the major league baseball playoffs are starting. democrats are ready once again to step up to the plate and pass urgently needed

constituents, senate republicans and the white house refuse to play ball. a ballgame, like their refusal will have deadly consequences. much-needed bill addresses the seriousness of the crisis americans are dealing with. t provides strong support for small businesses, nonprofits, and gives a lifeline to the struggling restaurant industry independent live venue operators. it gives assistance for airline extending the s, payroll support program. it adds more funds to bolster childcare.nd living up to its name, heroes 2.0, honors our heroes on the by providing assistance to state and local toernments who needs funding pay first responders and health care workers who are keeping us safe. funds for coronavirus testing and tracing can access americans free coronavirus treatment. this is not radical ideas.

his is to keep the american people healthy and safe. it provides direct payments to a obust second round of stimulus checks of $1,200 for taxpayer per dependent. it requires osha to have a standard for workplaces to development and implement infection control plans. for losing americans their employer provided health nsurance by making unemployed americans to receive the maximum a.c.a. subsidy on the exchanges. weekly res the unemployment benefits through january. and assists renters and home verwhelmers -- home overwhelmers -- homeowners payments. it addresses rising hunger with increased maximum snap benefits and safeguards our emocracy with new resources to ensure safe elections and helping the us and postal service. i hear, these are radical, far-left ideas.

core american responsibilities that we should address in a bipartisan way. we've met you halfway. the compromise. your constituents are suffering. they need your help. vote yes. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas. ms. granger: i yield to the gentlelady from north carolina, dr. foxx, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my wonderful colleague from texas for yielding to me. you know, our colleagues across the aisle try to convince americans that this bill is a compromise and bipartisan. that's a joke, mr. speaker. compromise to democrats means do it their way. when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars, hard-earned money though, the democrats can't seem to help themselves. he latest example is this $2.2

trillion socialist wish list which is riddled with radical left priorities that are unrelated to the pandemic. for example, it props up failing pension plans for select community newspapers. what does this have to do with covid-19 pandemic? the newspaper industry has been in decline for decades and these companies have had a long-standing inability to meet their pension obligations. the bill also forgives up to $10,000 of private student loan debt. again, this does nothing to combat covid-19. but massive loan forgiveness, despite the high cost to taxpayers, has long been a democrat objective. partisan we this scheme? because come election day, democrats are hoping to cash in

on this bill's many empty promises. it's disingenuous and disappointing. we all must vote no. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm delighted to yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from new york, mr. espaillat. mr. espaillat: mr. speaker, the heroes act is what america needs. it's what my state of new york needs. nearly $7 billion for public transportation, that's compromise. aid to struggling small businesses including restaurants, that's a compromise. billions of dollars to help schools operate safely and help parents aford child care and get back to work, that's a compromise. another round of stimulus checks for the american people. that's a compromise. billions of dollars for

emergency rental assistance as people face evictions. people don't know where they're going to get the money to pay their rent. they're backed up. that's a compromise. and finally, mr. speaker, help for states and local governments. not red states and blue states, all states. last time i checked it was called the united states of america. let's help all the states. they're not getting the revenues they need. that's a compromise. i said the last time we passed the heroes act back in may it was a good thing. i say today that this is a real good thing and it's a ompromise. ms. granger: i yield to the gentleman from south carolina, mr. rice, for three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rice: thank you. mr. speaker, democrats claim to be the party of the little guy. it's easy to talk but actions speak louder than words.

republicans have offered plan after plan to help ordinary people who need it and help small businesses struggling to survive. businesses like the 1,700 restaurants along the myrtle beach grand strand back home that have been devastated by this pandemic. if speaker pelosi would allow a vote on any of these bills they would pass the house and senate easily and folks back home would get the help they need. but democrats have blocked every plan to help the little guy unless we also bail out broke blue states and restore the deduction for state and local taxes for millionaires and billionaires. you see 90% of the benefit of the state tax deduction goes to earners in the top 10%. over 50% of the benefit goes to millionaires and billionaires in the top 1%. who don't need a bailout.

take michael bloomberg, for example. he made over $3.5 billion last year. mr. bloomberg works in new york city, which has a combined state and local income tax rate of 12.5%. that means restoring the state and local tax deduction would reduce mr. bloomberg's taxes by $160 million. that's right. mr. bloomberg would get $160 million bailout. for months, democrats -- democratic leadership has held back help from the little guy who desperately needs it as ransom unless we agree to give a bailout to billionaires like michael bloomberg who would get an extra $160 million. why would they do that? remember in the presidential debate when michael bloomberg bragged he spent $100 million to buy 21 mu democrat seats and put nancy pelosi in charge? now we know why. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i am delighted to yield one minute to the gentleman from texas, mr. green. mr. green: thank you very much, madam chair. thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, how can one say you love the police but you won't fund the municipality that pays the police? how can you say you want your children to be taught well in a safe environment but you won't fund the bill that would fund the school system so that they can be taught well and be in a safe environment. how can you say you want your fires to be fought but you won't protect fire tigers? this bill does that. here's why you can't say you protect firefighters and would fund the police, it's because senator mcconnell has said openfully and notoriously he would have the state go bankrupt. bankruptcy is not the way to go for heroes. for firefighters. for police officers. for teachers. it's time to compromise.

this is the bill to be voted on. not the one that's in your mind. compromise. not the mind. i yield back. ms. granger: i yield to the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. grothman, for two minutes. mr. grothman: thank you, i'll take off my mask for a second. dollar lot of provisions in this bill that are offensive. my colleague, congressman rice, just pointed out the tax cut aimed primarily at the very wealthy. but i'm going to focus on the $1,200. in my prior life i used to be an estate planning attorney and i would write out wills. people would come to see me and one of their goals was to leave something for the next generation. give them part of a house, part of a bank account. in this bill the $1,200 to everybody in the country including people who do not need any extra assistance because of this is a little bit offensive. i don't know who put together

this bill but kind of unlike the greatest generation that always wanted to leave a little more assets to their children and grandchildren this bill greatly -- it lets everybody spend $1,200 so they can leave increased debt to their children and grandchildren. i think that's a little embarrassing. the second thing i'll point out is that $1,200 goes not just to american citizen bus to illegal immigrants. this is part of a scary trend around here. whether you're talking about tree medical care for illegal immigrants, welfare for illegal immigrants or now $1,200 checks to illegal immigrants is just sending us down the wrong way and pretending we don't have a country here at all. not to mention at least when i went to my local wal-mart he said the last time we sent out these checks there were huge amounts of increase in spending in the electronics department. so we're going to send the next generation further into debt so this generation can buy more or at least part of this generation can buy more electronic junk

from china at wal-mart. i can't imagine what went on in the room when they put together this bill but i'm voting no tomorrow, or later tonight. thanks. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from california, a senior member of the appropriations committee, ms. lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. lee: thank you very much. first, thank you, madam chair, for yielding the time but also for your tremendous leadership and that of your staff in getting us to this point on behalf of the american people and ensuring that we put forth a bill that will ensure that they know we care about their health and economic security during this very serious moment. also i just want to thank speaker pelosi and chairman pallone for including language that will help reach communities disproportionately impacted by this deadly virus as in the

african-american, indigenous, black communities, a.p.i. communities and treat them as partners to defeat covid. it's been 4 1/2 months since the house passed the heroes act. since january over 200,000 people have died. people are terrified about keeping their families healthy and safe. they're terrified about keeping their jobs and their homes and their businesses. and still republicans continue to block this critical relief from moving forward. sadly but not surprisingly, black and brown people are getting the worst of this. 40,000 african-americans have died from covid, one out of every five deaths in america. covid deaths. and indigenous an latinx people are each 50% more likely to die from covid than white americans and 20% of all deaths in my

district are from the aapi community. it's clear the president has no plan, that's why democrats are taking action to be sure that we have the robust national testing, tracing, an treatment efforts to reduce the transmission and the deaths that we are experiencing every day. all of us know people who have died from this horrific pandemic. also we were able to include funding for snap benefits. unemployment payments. child care and education. including funding for my own community in alameda county. i'm also pleased that the bill contains necessary contributions to the global efforts to fight covid. this pandemic does not respect borders, we need to work with partners around the globe if we're going to get covid under control. madam speaker, may i have another minute? thank you very much. let me also say how important it is that we really understand an

recognize that this is a global pandemic and it knows no borders. this bill will also ramp up testing, contact tracing and outreach to ensure that those communities most impacted are supported. its strengthensout reach to medically underserved communities, again, black and brown and indigenous people who have suffered the most from covid. this bill will ensure that the testing and tracing efforts treat people of color as partners in engaging their community. this is a health and economic pandemic of enormous pr portions that we never experienced in our lifetime. we must make sure that people have safe places to work and attend school. their health and economic needs are addressed in this bill. we cannot have one without the other. and so let's pass this comprehensive relief, let's begin to try to heal our country.

so please support this bill and i ask for an aye vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas is recognized. ms. granger: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. le wie: i'm delighted to yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from olorado, mr. neguse. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. neguse: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, madam chair. i rise today in support of the updated heroes act and i want to thank house leadership and of course our distinguished chair of the appropriations committee, chairwoman lowey, for introducing this vital update. first let me just say, look, we're all entitled to our own views and opinions in this

chamber but we are not entitled to our own set of facts and as i have heard some of the comments from my friends on the other side of the aisle i've been a bit confused because as we all know, four months ago this chamber passed in a bipartisan basis the heroes act, $3.4 trillion to provide an economic lifeline to small businesses and working families struggling across this country. the senate declared a so-called pause, decided they would do nothing, wouldn't meet us halfway, wouldn't come talk to the house democrats to try to reach a compromise bill. so we to get to work heroes act that provides an economic lifeline to so many americans across our country. the fact that house democrats effort too make every work with anyone in good faith of ourver for the people

country, in my view, is something we should continue to this great chamber. now, i will say -- madam chair, have another minute? i'd say, mr. speaker, one of the support -- reasons i this bill is because it includes significant relief for small usinesses, which are the backbone of colorado's economy. my republican colleague, john curtis, and i introduced a bill a few weeks ago to provide relief, essentially nsuring we would exclude the getting p.p.p. forgiveness. this provision would provide ensure they can continue to keep their business businesses solvent, keep their serving the people colorado at state of and for the state of utah. this bill, on is in in the updated heroes act,

alongside so many important provisions to help small country s in our recover. so i say to my colleagues, let's get this done. this bill. and let's provide the relief that the american people are to provide.us and with that i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the back.man yields recognized.dy is the gentlelady reserves. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm minute to yield one the gentlelady from washington, ms. schrier. the peaker pro tempore: gentlelady is recognized. ms. schrier: thank you, madam chair. thank you, mr. speaker. the people in my district ontinue to struggle with the economic effects of covid-19. my constituents and small so ness owners will be relieved to know that help they beings one step closer to here, including more assistance

to small businesses, funding for education, d enhanced unemployment benefits, and rental assistance. of my bills to help children and families have been included in this package as increasing ing funding for child abuse prevention and more help boosting unger and acce ccess for children to fresh fruits and vegetables. or many future ovid-19 vaccines is in this package. it's important that the american people have confidence that when a vaccine gets approved is safe effective. i urge support of this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the back.lady yields ms. granger: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentlewoman from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm delighted to yield five minutes to the gentlelady from california, the chair of the financial services,

ms. waters. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. waters: mr. speaker, i rise strong support of the house mendment to h.r. 925, the updated version of the heroes act. democrats have been working every single day to and nd to this pandemic provide much-needed relief and protection for families across country. $1 -- 139 days ago, house emocrats voted to pass the heroes act. unfortunately, president trump, and senate ell, republicans have blocked the bill and prevented the essential relief the legislation provides rom reaching our neighborhoods and our communities. meanwhile, the nation continues this crisis.ing

even before this pandemic, over in the illion people united states were experiencing more ssness, including than 50,000 families with children. number kely that this has grown significantly due to the pandemic. continue to head toward crisis.rophic eviction as families struggle to pay rent back rent of unpaid pile up, today, the rent is due, 14.2 million ed renter households cannot pay it eviction and k of homelessness. therestate of california, are 1.7 million renter households who are behind on facing eviction. at the same time, more than homeowners, including almost 780,000 in california, have

already fallen behind on their payment. making matters worse, over one illion small businesses have closed. to address the ongoing crisis, creates ad heroes act 50 billion emergency rental assistance fund and a $21 billion homeowner assistance and provides $5 billion in unding for homeless services providers. through no fault of their own, millions of people are also payments on e credit cards, car loans, and rent.mortgages or by suspending negative credit reporting during covid-19 the heroes act ensures that these innocent consumers do further damage. suspends act also debt collection for consumers, small businesses, and nonprofits this pandemic.

additionally, private student in economic s distress who are disproportionately people of get up to $10,000 in debt relief under the bill. he nation continues to face shortages of essential medical supplies and equipment. example, our heroic health are workers are still reusing n-95 respirator masks at a time continue of covid-19 to rise. the heroes act strengthens the to nse production act supercharge the production of hese supplies and works to ensure that funds are directed to alleviate these shortages. heroes act also builds upon my efforts and those my committee to remove barriers for community development financial institutions. is the cdfi's, and minority institutions, better

known as m.d.i.'s, trying to low-income communities during the pandemic. for example, the bill provides and othern in capital assistance for cdfi's and mdi -- m.d.i.'s to bolster financial communities that have been hardest hit by this pandemic. bill provides s another round of stimulus payments for families, additional funding for small businesses, including $120 illion for restaurants and airport concessionaires. and importantly, the bill treasury secretary to work with the global community to immediately provide 2 trillion in relief through the international monetary fund, which will immediately support eveloping countries that are experiencing some of the worst effects of covid-19. speaker, this bill is not everything that's needed but a good-faith effort to

bridge the gap in negotiations colleagues.ublican it's time for republicans to reliefocking coronavirus and support this legislation. and i yield back the balance of my time. very much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. ms. granger: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the reserves.y the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the gentlewoman lee.texas, ms. jackson the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. jackson lee: mr. speaker, i thank you. hope my time has not started to run. i thank the speaker. people cannot wait. help is on the way. only thing i can ask of my republican friends is to take their in neighborhoods in

districts, around the nation fathers are and waiting on a disbursement needed their table.n this $2.2 trillion bill will small businesses, nonprofits, faith institutions with the p.p.p. protectiveto give us equipment. yes, the engine of our small, independent restaurants are getting close to $120 million. bolster education and childcare. schools that cannot open because the resources.e money for testing. 've opened 33 testing sites in our neighborhoods. contact tracing, of course. and g sure that cities counties, essential workers and hazardous pay is paid. american asking the people they are suffering and help eed this resource to th them? to fight covid-19, we need to the evictions, stop the

foreclosures, close food insecurity, make sure we take small businesses, education, and give our people a lifeline. the american people can't wait. now is the time to help them. heroes act for this money and this relief. back.d ms. granger: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentlelady from new york. speaker, i'm . delighted to yield one minute to the gentleman from new york, mr. garcia. -- illinois, mr. garcia. mr. garcia: mr. speaker, i want to thank representative lowey this minute. i rise in strong support of the my sed heroes act because community cannot wait. school teachers, flight attendants and working families facing layoffs and they need

our help now. and homeowners facing evictions and homelessness need now.upport immigrants with u.s.-born children and u.s. citizens who received the stimulus check need our support now. heroes act 4 1/2 months ago. senate ans in the wouldn't even consider it, but this is a bill that we're is a compromise and it is common ground, because just the my colleagues across aisle, i'm headed home to my constituents and i don't want them.o think we failed house democrats have done our jobs. doingsed relief and we're it again. it is the president and senate epublicans who refuse to pass relief that have failed. give the american people the elief that they need so urgently. i urge adoption. the speaker pro tempore: the entlelady from texas is

recognized. ms. granger: i'll reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mr. speaker, i am -- i am delighted to yield one to the gentleman from horsford.. delighted -- it's very special delight for me to yield one minute to the istinguished gentlewoman from california, the speaker of the house, ms. pelosi. tempore: madam speaker is recognized. the speaker: thank you, madam for yielding. i'm honored to be on the floor today to support a bill brought by the loor distinguished chair of the ppropriations committee, nita lowey of new york. her service on that committee or decades has been a blessing

to our country. i have seen firsthand her eadership for america's families, for our country, for our ommunity, and for children. we have worked together on women's issues, hiv-aids, you every subject, minority health issues, and the rest. with this are today legislation that is so needed our country. and i don't -- it's really hard to understand what it is that would oppose in the legislation. the appropriations committee has job.a masterful you have a maestro, madam chair, as well as your staff for this legislation together. and i'm in congress because of children. 'm always here for the children. and i want to start my comments y saying what this legislation would mean to a family of four. a family of four, this is a for workers and families who are facing this disaster.s

four earning f $24,000, heroes 2 would mean payments, $3,400 direct payment. unemployment benefits, $600 per week. u.i. benefits. $5,920 dits, up to through the eitc and fully efundable $4,000 tax credit, equally an i mention that, why don't you do this other bill. none of that i just said, the earned income tax credit, fully refundable child tax credit, none of that is in any of the republican bill. none of the bills you have seen other than this bill has that consideration for children. so when people say, take half a loaf, because the children need more than a heel of a half of a

loaf. it has increase in snap benefits and $100. house rental assistance and the c.a. subsidy and parents losing their job and under the a.c.a., the affordable care act, benefit of $1300. we can't do everything in the bill that is coronavirus-focused. we have challenges in our country that we must address in a bigger way, but what we have here is coronavirus centric. and that is important to note because people are suffering in a different way. we have for the family, many of these families are food insecure. many of our children are food

insecure. lowey, o thank nita salute bobby scott for our children and workers and we want our children to go back to school and do so in a way that is safe. and bobby scott has provisions in here for that, whether actually in school, whether it's virtual or hybrid or calls for the ventilation that is needed d mothers and fathers by having strong osha language. that is not in the republican bill. that is not in the republican bill. chairman frank par loan -- we can come to terms on money, but the language is what is important. and frank pallone, 4 1/2 months ago proposed a strategic plan and i'm sure he will talk about

and i thank him for that, a strategic plan in order to crush the virus. epublicans want to crush the affordable care act. why don't we come together and crur the virus and open our economy and our schools in a safe way. and i thank you, mr. chairman pallone for your leadership. the natural resources committee, congressman grijalva, so important what he has in the legislation especially addressing the needs of our tribal communities which are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus. and i thank him for his leadership in that in some many other ways but that is an essential peace. the oversight committee, carolyn

maloney for the postal service across, the message but not yet on the crens success. the lifeblood of who we are. the d.n.a. of america, the people and we are having a problem with that. it's not even about money but about policy. thank her for her ongoing leadership cull minimum traiting. mall business chairwoman velazquez. decades the chair or ranking member of the small business committee. she knows about women and minority-owned businesses and the most optimistic thing a person can do is plant a flag with small business. how more optimistic can you be, except getting married. but small business.

the p.p.e. and other help for hospitals, excuse me, for restaurants, hospitals, mr. pallone's section of the bill. but back tore lydia velazquez. this is a big piece of the bill. what do we do for p.p.e., restaurants and small spaces around the country for entertainment and bringing people together. how do we balance all of this? that is language that we are trying to resolve in our negotiations. and i'm optimistic we can get from. but we couldn't get there without the leadership of lydia velazquez and veterans affairs committee. i thank representative takano for his work for his work and

chairman richie neal has been brilliant on how we put money in people's pockets willing direct payments and some of the other tax provisions that i talked that earlier for children isn't in the republican bill. and i want to thank leader defazio, the chair of the transportation and infrastructure committee for his leadership in having the language in here, not just for the airlines, which is very, very important and that is important because it is an essential, important that people should know and say why should we help airlines? they need special certifications and special security clearances and the rest, if they lose a job, it's months before they can come back.

mr. defazio has important chunk of money, a lot, in the bill for transportation and some other ways that is urgent and correct coronavirus connected and that is important as well. and i thank him for his leadership in that regard. read the bill. so much of it -- and that's why i salute the chairs. his is about having scientific institutional, academic basis for the amount of money that we are asking for. we had a bigger bill, $3 moin 4. and we came down a trillion dollars. no. not yet. we came down another $200 billion, not violating any of our priorities but by shortening the time, shortening the time frame and moving the issues and

that is in our regular appropriations bills as we go forward. so this is really important. one bill is not as good as another. why not take something instead of nothing? why should that be the standard for america's children? we have to fight for the best we can get to them and i feel certain we will have a level of success that people have to know, people have to know. one of the problems i have between the democrats and the republicans is in the republican bill, they have $150 billion benefit from the wealthiest people in our country. $150 billion. in our bill, we strove to have $149 billion for our children, for the earned income tax credit, full refund built and the rest. no. so we took it down to $54

billion and still waiting to see if we get acceptance of that. $150 billion for the wealthiest people in the united states. $149 for america's working families, no. we took off $100 billion to gain agreement. this is not just a money debate, it's a values debate. it is important for people to know what this fight is about. it is called the heroes act. and called the heroes act. anybody who wants to wave and have cutoffs and the game and all that, honor our heroes by making sure they have their job. these are health care workers, our police and fire, first responders, our teachers and

teachers, our teachers, our transportation, our sanitation, our school workers and the rest who make our lives function. we couldn't do what we do without them doing. many of them are risking their lives, risking their lives to save lives and now they lose their jobs. because why? let the states go bankrupt. that's what mitch mcconnell said. blue states, why should we send them any money? because the people have needs and we have to meet them. and the sooner -- if we lose all authority to thank them, if we say that's nice, but you can go on unemployment insurance? what have we accomplished? we have diminished services to people. and people lose their jobs. over a million to a million and

a half of state and local have lost their jobs already and predicted that 3.5 million more if we don't act on this. this is an important pillar on this on supporting state and local governments. next, crush the virus. crush the virus. o that we can again open our schools and businesses and economy. this bill is 4.5 months old because at the time we passed it. the leader in the senate, mr. mcconnell, pushed the pause button. we have to wait and see. and since that time, over 100 ,000 people have died and hundreds of thousands have become infected and pushed the use button and says push the

use button and debate policy how to best meet the needs of the american people. we have the provision in this bill and i thought it was really important to formally put forth the work of our chairs which is excellent which means the needs. maxine, you heard from her, families on the verge of eviction, get support, people who can't pay their mortgages are helped in this legislation. and i thank maxine for that, chairwoman waters as well as her work on the restaurant and small businesses get help on this legislation. this is a tall order. people said, we should have a skinny package.

we have a massive problem. you don't believe more in the role of government as we do. let's find our common ground. but let's not just say let the children pay the price because we want to have a bipartisan bill. no. we don't want the children to pay the price and have the bipartisan bill. we want to have a bipartisan bill that supports the children. i feel confident that we can do that. but we can't do that if we take the path of least resistance and say let's do whatever they put forth. that's doing their bill. that's not doing the people's work. , again, over 200,000 people and 7,000 -- 207,000 people have died. million people have died. e in this legislation,

chairwoman's expertise, we have provisions in the bill that will affects our relationship in temperatures of how we fight the covid virus because none of us can say to make sure that all of us are safe. i urge a yes vote on this legislation. it goes a long way to do. it sets an example. we cut a lot out by cutting the time on it and pretty soon we will have to vrl legislation laterear and this goes to next year. the timing is important to do it now. it's long overdue. it is what this country needs. and again, i want to say thank you, thank you to our heroes. we thank you by making sure you have the job and the benefits

and the rest that you have earned and not just getting empty gratitude but the gratitude of supporting you in the important roles you play in our lives with the assurance you will have your job and that your children will be able to go to school safely whether it is virtual, actual or hybrid. and when they do that, they will do so in a way that you have enabled because education has some funds in here, but without state and local, the education function cannot be borne out to its fullest extent. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. i thank the distinguished chairwoman and i have great excitement of our chairs that the quality of this legislation and the necessity that has come close to it in the negotiation for the children.

. . . the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm delighted to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from connecticut, the chair of the labor, health, human services and education subcommittee, the hardworkings, distinguished leader on all these issues, ms. delauro. -- hardworking, distinguished leader on all of these issues, ms. delauro. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. delauro: the people of connecticut and of the united states deserve no less than the full support of the federal government to get them to the dawn of a recovery. while the house passed a comprehensive bill for american people back in may, the senate has failed to act. so we advance this $2.2 trillion package that includes $2.7 billion for connecticut. to protect lives, livelihoods and the life of our democracy.

as chair of the labor, health and human services education appropriations subcommittee, i am proud of the investments for patients, working people, children, seniors and public education. for health we provide $75 billion, for coronavirus testing, contact tracing and isolation measures and $28 billion for safe and effective vaccine. for working people we must save jobs, protect workers and their families, so we strengthen, expand and protect emergency paid leave. we restore the expanded $600 unemployment benefit through the end of january. and we continue to support work share programs. for children and families, we must not allow a generation to be lost or let their bright fewer -- futures darken. e provide $1 -- for k-12 education, and postsecondary. for $15 billion to save the child care industry. and then my legislation to make the child tax credit fully

refundable, to make it accessible to all, including the 1/3 previously excluded, including half of black and lattin a -- latinx children. i'm proud of increasing the maximum snap benefit by 15%, to aid nutrition programs, food banks, farmers and producers, as well as small businesses and restaurants. so, let us put politics second, let us put people first. let us vote yes on this relief bill, for the people of this country, for the seniors, for the children and those who every day are looking toward the federal government, because they are in desperate shape and they need our help. they need this legislation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas. reserves. mrs. lowey: i yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from maryland, the majority leader, mr. hoyer.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. the gentleman is recognized. mr. hoyer: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in strong support of this legislation. i've heard my republican friends lament the fact that we have things in this bill that they don't like and apparently that the senate doesn't like. i've been here long enough to know and to serve when the republicans were in charge. they passed bill after bill with partisan provisions that they

knew president obama wouldn't sign and that could not pass the united states senate. because they couldn't get enough democrats to get to 60 votes. they knew that. so both sides passed legislation that they think is good. notwithstanding the fact that the other side does not agree. with some of the provisions in he bill. ut, mr. speaker, this bill responds to the needs of the american people at a time of crisis. the house passed the heroes act more than 4 1/2 months ago. normally what would happen was when a bill goes to the senate, they would pass a bill of their , , unless they believed

ladies and gentlemen of america, you're on your own. and states, as senator mcconnell said, you can go bankrupt. the minority leader of this house said, let's wait and see what happens. nd we waited and we waited and we waited. additional americans died since may 15. how long are we going to wait? the house did its job in may for the american people, yet the republican senate and president trump have still not done theirs. and they talk about compromise on that side of the aisle.

and working together. and so what did the republican leader of the senate do? there was a trillion-dollar offer on the table so he came back with a compromise. and cut it in half. to $500 billion. and the only reason that bill got a majority in the -- excuse me, republicans didn't get a majority in the united states, they did, because there were enough republicans, because they didn't think it would go anywhere. it was a message bill. that's the only reason it passed. with 51 -- didn't pass, of course, because it needed 60. let me tell you what john boehner did and what paul ryan did when the freedom caucus wouldn't give you the votes, mr. speaker. for the republicans to pass legislation that they knew was needed, the debt limit, fiscal bills, they knew they were needed. so what did john boehner do? he walked across the aisle, talked to the speaker, talked to me and said, we need some votes.

and we made a deal. and the chair, the ranking member of the appropriations committee is one of those people who wants the house to work. i'm a friend of hers. and i respect her. because she is a member that i've experienced who wants to ake it work. but senator mcconnell doesn't walk across the aisle and say, let's make a compromise. so don't preach at us, mr. speaker. don't preach at us about reaching across the aisle. we've seen tax bills that slam, am, there it goes. . you come up with a bill negotiations are ongoing right now. and i want to congratulate the speaker of the house. she's been in washington more than any of the rest of us in

the last six months. i know that because i talked to her on a regular basis. trying to get this to work. trying to make a deal. and i applaud secretary mnuchin. there are some others who don't make deals and who have a history of not making deals and have a history of undermining deals. that paul ryan wanted to make, or that john boehner wanted to make. not democrats. but negotiations are continuing and i hope we will reach a bipartisan agreement. frankly, if we'd reached a bipartisan agreement yesterday, we would not have this bill on the floor if we'd reached it the day before or the day before. we wouldn't have this bill on the floor. because we know we want a bill signed. but we also know we want to let the american people know where we stand. not for just one bill that helps this group or that group or the

other group, but all americans who are suffering and are at risk. so we believe that this bill is a reasonable compromise. that's why today we will pass a bill that achieves the goals of the heroes acts and represents a reasonable compromise. and you're saying to yourselves, some people, mr. speaker, are saying to themselves, this isn't reasonable. remember, mcconnell goes from $1 trillion down to a half a billion, which -- a half a trillion, which clearly did not cover the needs every economist tells us -- needs, every economist tells us that. notwithstanding the passage of this bill, house democrats will continue to negotiate to reach the kind of bipartisan agreement that we believe is necessary to help americans get through this crisis. the airlines need the money now. and we ought to be that close.

but our position is clear. the federal government cannot shirk its responsibilities to the people it serves. not just some of the people. we have in this bill the help for small businesses that people on that side of the aisle are talking about. we're talking about it. they need it. includes support for state, local, tribal and territorial governments. i have a letter here, and letters can be sent from the national governors association, only if they're unanimous. hich says, every major economist, regardless of party or ideological bent, came to the same conclusion after the 2007-2009 financial crisis. the lack of support for state and local governments slowed the nation's economic growth for more than a decade. as we begin to recover and rebuild from covid-19 crisis -- the covid-19 crisis, unanimously

republican and democratic governors, we cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past. i.e., not giving aid to state and local governments. that's what the governors are aying. all of them. republican, democrat. my governor is a republican. his name is hogan. his father served here in the house of representatives. and he is one of those who came up with, mr. cuomo, the amount of money that was needed by state and local governments. why do we aid state and local governments? because they hire police. we hear about defunding police. they're hemorrhaging revenues and they cannot support the personnel they have. and police, fire, emergency medical response teams,

sanitation workers, nurses at public hospitals. all of these, state and local are critical if we're going to solve the economic problem and the covid-19 problem. while the heroes act provided the level of fiscal support unanimously recommended by the national governor's association, i want to repeat that. this is not a democratic idea. unanimously the governors of our states, red and blue states, said we need this money. the bill recognizes the reality they face with the senate and republican leader who suggested the states go bankrupt, that level might not be possible. o we reduced that sum in half. cut out $1 trillion of the proposal we thought had merit. actually $1 trillion -- actually, $1.2 trillion. so we offered a compromise. one year of funding. cut it in half, yet still sufficient to get us into the next year. this legislation renews the

expanded emergency unemployment insurance benefits that millions of people are relying on. and by the way, it goes to them, but what do they do with it, mr. speaker? they spend it in the economy at those small businesses that you're worried about. all of us are worried about. and we give a family the sustenance that they need to support themselves and the family they go spend it, where, small businesses. and large businesses. we give that $600 a week through the end of january, 2021. which will help small businesses and the general economy. it will provide another round of direct payments to americans of $1,200 for each individual adult and $500 for two eligible dependents to help families make ends meet. i think all of you have voted -- it might have been a voice vote on the cares act, but everybody voted for it. and we're making sure college students aren't left out.

our bill offers a second round of paycheck protection program to help small businesses remain viable through the pandemic and include additional support for workers in the airlines. restaurants and live entertainment industries. it covers a whole lot of folks hat need help. for 4 1/2 months rgs the senate has not sent us a single piece of legislation, not a single piece, because senator mcconnell will not compromise so he can votes from the democrats, just as john boehner and paul ryan because they needed the votes that they thought were important. to help reopen the economy safely, there is funding for tracing and provides a lifeline to the postal service.

that may be objectionable because they may not -- may want to see the mail delayed for whatever reason. i thank chairwoman lowey and all of the chairs and members of all of our committees who worked hard. includes contributions from members including our freshmen. this bill represents a substantial reduction, 35% reduction. i tell my friends who served on the appropriations committee with me, if i was in charge, we wanted to make a deal and i said i will come down 35%, they would have taken it. somebody mentioned $2 trillion. the cares act was $2.2 trillion and all of you voted for it and

that was a voice vote, unanimous and i don't know if you were here and i don't know if you would have voted against it. $2.2 trillion. it is can extra oord. but no one has experienced the crisis that america has faced in the last eight months. no one. and every economist said it required the response and that's why we voted for four bills in a bipartisan way. but then leadership on the other side of the aisle, he said let's say what happens. 120,000 people have died. that's what happened. we passed an emergency supplemental appropriation bill, 415-2, we passed the families first act, 463 to 40.

we passed the cares act. nobody voted against it. and patriot protection and health enhancement act was passed on april 23 from 385-5. let's change the politics? the politics have changed. the noo needs, mr. speaker, have not changed. all four bills passed the snats and were signed into law. some passed by unanimous consent by unions senate. i urge president trump and senate republicans to work with us to reach bipartisan agreement without further delay. yes, we have differences. but we have great needs. and i agree with those on the other side of the aisle and this side of the aisle who have said we must meet those needs if we

keep our economy going and keep our families intact. millions of american families and small business owners are looking to congress for help. let us come together, as we have four times. came together overwhelmingly aid, this is a lot of money. it is a lot of money. i'm boggled by the figures we are dealing with, but i'm boggled by the challenge that we confront. this bill represents a significant compromise while addressing the priorities we share. mr. speaker, i hope we can show the american people that we can come together to govern responsibly in this crisis and provide much needed relief to the people we serve. people pick out individual items in this bill. and unform, deeply

mischaracterize some of them. fake facts are being debated on this floor, mr. speaker. i don't have the time to go into those fake facts. one of those was we are defunding the police. there was $600 million in the cops program in the heroes bill. and then subsequently we passed an appropriation bill at $343 million and the senate hasn't passed a single bill to fund anything, anything, mr. speaker. what did the president do? the president zero-funded if you check your budget, zero funded the cops program. zero funded it. check it out. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to vote for this

bill. and i guarantee that you that we are going to continue tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow and try to get an agreement that we can pass the house and the senate and the president will sign, because we understand the american people are in need. that is what this bill does, responds to them. if the senate does president like it. let us go to conference and let's get it done and we will be here to do it every day. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from texas is recognized. ms. granger: i yield to the gentleman from ohio, mr. gonzalez, two minutes. mr. gonzalez: the gentleman is refersing his budget and we'll take it when it's ready. let's be clear what we are doing

today. we are going to be voting on a piece of legislation that was not negotiated and dead on arrival in the senate and will do nothing on americans who are relying on us. this is politics of the issue more than results. this is a bill that rejects $1.7 trillion in covid aid that will help families navigate some of the most difficult moments of their lives that will help no ne except a happenedful of politicians. what a disgrace. my colleagues know what they are doing. how in good faith they say this legislation that takes steps to federalize u.s. elections and and directs i.c.e. is an attempt to help constituents to know these provisions will not be signed into law.

the speaker of the house said we re not having a dollars debate but a values debate. many around the country and what they value sips this pandemic broke out. my constituents puts the people over the politics and value a congress that could care less which party wins or loses so long as in their greatest moment of need the government is there. the country is sick and tired. they want to win and they win when we do our job. that is not what is happening today and the american people are rightly disgusted. my colleagues with 25 members from each side of the aisle that showed we can and should work together on a proposal that keeps our small businesses and protects our children and schools and help those who are still unemployed.

i heard from people that this caucus and our package gave them hope that congress could do something for a change and yet here we are. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. >> we are ready to let down the people we serve. despite all of this, there is a path forward. but it will take leadership on both sides of the aisle to cast aside their pat san hats and negotiate in good faith. leadership doesn't need to come from our elected party leaders. each member has a say. a yes vote is for the status quo, political messaging and nothing for the american people. a no vote is a recognition there is more work to be done and there is still an opportunity for us to act in the best interests of our constituents. we have to deliver. it's time. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i am very pleased to yield five minutes to the distinguished the gentleman from new jersey, the chairman of the committee on energy and commerce, a member of my class in the congress, mr. pallone. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. and i thank the chairwoman and i really want to commend you for putting together a bill which while it reduces the amount of money from the original heroes act, it improves the heroes act because of what we have learned. and that is not an easy task of what you have accomplished here and i want to congratulate you. but i want to say in response to my colleague, this is a serious attempt to put something forward

that we believe that the republicans can support. maybe they are not going to do it today. but i want to say our speaker, and when i say our, she is the speaker for the house and entire country has worked so hard to try to come together with the republicans and met yesterday and maybe today with mr. any new hampshirin from the white house and suggest in any way this is anything but a serious attempt by democrats to think that the republicans can adopt or come close to what they can support is unfortunate. i want to go back what speaker pelosi said earlier and said what we are trying to do is crush the virus. i want to talk about that, because much of that language comes from the energy and

commerce committee, that i chair. this is the united states of america. i know we are elected from individual districts but we represent the whole country. the only way we can crush this virus is we work together on a national level tore accomplish it. what we say in the heroes act, we need a national plan and a way to bring forth that national plan. every state -- i get so mad when i watch tv and they say ohio is doing better or new jersey is doing better, this is not this is about. it is the united states of america. and that's not what we have right now, because each state is competing, competing for testing and medical supplies and the hospitals even compete between themselves and that's not the way it should be. what we say in the heroes act

and carried for is a national plan, someone in charge of the supply chain that sets parameters of how to crash the. how you should wear a mask. not necessarily all the plans and delivers the medical supplies and the vaccine. one of the things that is an improvement. not only do we continue the $75 llion for testing, contact testing but we provide money for distribution and development and awareness of the vaccine when it is developed, because again, this has to be done equitably and nationally. and that's what i want to stress today. i want to stress that we have to

do this together and that's what this bill puts forward. let me just say in addition, because i want to mention a few other things. $200 billion to get essential workers to get their equipment that they need. and we have new provisions to address insurance companies declining to cover covid testing. everyone who should get a test for free. the bill steppeds to the treatment and the drugs and the vaccine but the insurance companies are not doing it. so we want to make it quite clear and there is no out of pocket expense and true for the treatment and vaccination. we are one country. the other thing is another problem is the ability to connect to the internet, because the bottom line right now, if you are not in school and

learning remotely or working remotely, you need to have an internet connection. the legislation addresses the digital divide by providing money tore library for remote learning and help low-income housing by saying they have to have a zoint by $50 a month and continued and enhance the lifeline pay the bills for those internet connections and the last thing i want to mention is finally, we also prevent the shutoff for any kind of utilities, water service and other shutoffs because that is important. thank you for the time. and i yield back to the speaker. . . the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. granger: it's my honor to yield to the gentleman from california, the republican leader, kevin mccarthy, for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman is recognized. mr. mccarthy: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. i just listened to the last speaker. mr. speaker, he said he had a bill that he thought and hoped maybe the republicans could support. then he used the word united. you know the easiest way to know if republicans support it? ask them. let them in the room. actually work with them. that's probably a quicker way. the united part's a little different if you want to unite people and you leave them out. so let me recap, having been the leader on this side of the aisle, having worked on numerous covid relief bills, let's recap what we have gone through each and every time we tried to bring america relief. you know what, let's not take my word for it. let's just read headlines. i think that will work best. march 22, "the new york times." emergency economic rescue plan in limbo as democrats block

action. yes, that was "the new york times." that was march 22. so let's go to april 9, let's go to the npr. senate democrats block g.o.p. effort to boost small business aid. a week later we watched the speaker of this house appear on the late show bragging about blocking the relief while eating high-end ice cream. for reference, there were 22 million unemployed americans at that time. august 3, cbs news said, democrats reject white house offer for short-term extension of unemployment benefits. let's go to september 10. "politico." senate democrats block republican covid relief bill. that's weird. all those headlines, i never heard united. i did hear blocking. i did see the speaker. now let me tell you a little bit

of my personal experience. when we wanted to do the cares act, the senate worked with republicans and democrats by committee. they put the bill together. you listened to leader schumer that night said, yes, we're ready to go. the bill is prepared. i took the red eye, flew back. the speaker did too. we went into the meeting together. and you know what, just read one of these headlines. the speaker was able to stop it for a whole week. how many people were laid off that week? but there was change in the bill. the arts and the kennedy center got a little more. but that was the only thing. and then we were able to pass it. and in there we were able to produce the p.p.p. for small businesses, allows you to pay your rent, utility, but you took that money and you paid your employees. why were you paying your employees? because government shut down

your bills. was it successful? whoa, was it successful. did it go to the owner? no, it went to the people. it went to the workers. 50 million workers were saved. it was so powerful, so successful that the money was running out. so you know what, the treasury secretary sent a letter, sent a letter to us and said, you don't need to change anything. just add a little more money. because it's so successful and saving so many jobs. well, we got our answer. one person stopped it all. and she did it on the late show for all of america to see. you remember her smiling as she opened that refridge -- refrigerator and denied those 22 million people, that they were going to join those unemployment lines and she was going to smile about it. because she had her ice cream. and you know what happened, i listened to the speaker's words.

she said, you know what, we're going to get this done. we're not going to leave. because she has all the power of whether we stay in here and do our job or not. so it doesn't matter if 1/3 on the other side stays home and votes by proxy and still gets their paycheck. she had everybody leave. but then i had hope. i had hope, those who were unemployed, i had hope for those who wanted took back -- for those who were unemployed, i had hope for those who wanted to go back to school and had the money. because the speaker called an emergency meeting, forcing us to come back here. so i thought, maybe, maybe she changed. maybe actually what she said she meant this time. so she was going to force congress back and she did. and you know what, 1/3 on the other side didn't show because they didn't think it was an emergency. was it about covid relief? was it about the american people who were hurting? no, no, no, no. it was about the post office.

it was political. so we should have everybody come back. and you know, when you're in the minority, there's only certain rules you have. and certain options to put something on the floor. so you know what the republicans chose to do that day, when the democrats chose to talk about the post office? we put covid relief on the floor. so there was an option, there was an opportunity. the power of the speaker rose again. she put her thumb down and everybody else on the other side followed. so you know what the american public lost that -- you know what, the american public lost that day too. they lost one more time. the facts speak for themselves. the common denominator in holding up relief for the american people, it's very simple. speaker pelosi. she spent the last several months stonewalling negotiations instead of working to solve problems. you know why, you know why we're

here today, because republicans put a discharge petition on the floor. i wonder why we got out -- let out early last friday. discharge petition must become right, where people can sign it. when her members revolted and she responded by recycling an old, unrelated liberal wish list from her first bill. now at a time when 837 more americans are filing for unemployment and small businesses are closing permanently, she's wasting americans' time on yet another multitrillion-dollar special interest bailout that rewards k street, not main street. today's so-called compromise sn't realistic or responsible. it's the pelosi pipe dream 2.0. and the filled with the same radical, reckless andry dick louis ideas as the first bill -- and ridiculous ideas as the first bill. instead of prioritizing new money for small businesses

through the paycheck protection program, it provides a massive tax break to the millionaires and billionaires that are totally unrelated to the coronavirus. now, let me give you an example. let's take one person in america that's going to benefit from this. you actually ought to rename the this bill the mike bloomberg bill. mike bloomberg is reported to have made $3.5 billion last year . he lives in new york, so if you take the state and local taxes, you combine them, it's 12.5%. so that would mean, if this bill passes, you just gave him $160 million in his pocket. that's an interesting number, $160 million. i wonder how $160 million, if that's how much he would save, how would that affect him? well, i just read a couple reports, mr. speaker, do you

know michael bloomberg just put $100 million in to florida to win it for joe biden? and another interesting report, he has given the democrats $60 million to help them try to keep the majority this year, mr. speaker. and what's even more interesting, michael bloomberg ran for president. and when he was onstage, you know what he said? he said he bought the democrats the majority. he said he spent $100 million. he bragged about the individuals that he was able to spend that money on. hm. some people would wonder, is that money well spent? some people might wonder if they read that bill, hm, $160 million. what does that mean to the person who is unemployed? i don't think mike bloomberg needs that. i know a lot of small businesses, i know a lot of unemployed workers that need the money. but you chose somebody else to respond to.

you chose somebody else to reward. shame on you. instead of guaranteeing commonsense protections against frivolous lawsuits for schools, for small business, for child care, for churches, it gives amnesty, work visas and taxpayer-funded stimulus checks to illegal immigrants. lots of times when you read a bill, you see what you prioritize. instead of boosting jobs, it bails out the can bus industry -- cannabis industry. you have read your own bill? in fact, it mentions cannabis more than it mentions jobs. did you read the bill? it mentions cannabis more than it mentions jobs. i would challenge anybody in this body to name me one time in their district in one meeting, that it got mentioned cannabis more than jobs what you're going through right now. our districts may be different, but i don't believe anybody has that.

instead of reopening the economy, it releases criminals to our communities. democrats think the economy should be locked down. but they don't think serial killers should be locked up. but the speaker's latest bill does have a noteworthy difference from the original. at a time when the left wing mobs are creating chaos in our cities, the bill unequivocally embraces the left's defund the police agenda. in fact, it removes $600 million of the emergency funding for state and local enforcement and community-oriented policing that was in the first bill. that's where you cut. democrats actually believe the top priority of congress is fewer cops and more criminals. again, sometimes when you read the bills, it lets people know their priorities. i listened to the speaker before

much she always told me -- before. she always told me, bills show your values. i heard the speaker recently said, the democrats' values are different than republicans'. these are your values, yes, they are. yes, they are. another striking difference is the tens of billions of dollars for public education to combat misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine. mr. speaker, i was happy to hear my colleague on the other side speak a little earlier about the vaccine. i was excited. because the democrat nominee for president, the person he chose to be his runningmate, doesn't think people should take the vaccine. even though it's going to be safe and effective and save people's lives. it's interesting. the individual who is running for president on the democrat side said he is the democratic party.

joe biden, kamala harris and speaker pelosi actively spread in public over the last few weeks misinformation about an ability to save lives. american families, workers and small businesses will continue to pay the price for democrats' refusal to take this crisis seriously. it doesn't have to be this way. that's the worst part of all of this. t doesn't have to be this way. as the past several month it's have proven, targeted -- upon the montgomeries have proven, targeted and -- months have roven, proveen -- targeted relief works. i can't tell you how many people got laid off for every time speaker pelosi has delayed our bills. i can't tell you how many households and how many businesses have gone bankrupt because she didn't keep her word and say we would stay here and do it. i can't tell you how many more

people wonder if their kids can go to college because nancy pelosi, our speaker, called us back for an emergency, but it wasn't about covid. instead of using america's suffering as leverage to pass a socialist agenda, congress should be working on getting the american people back to work safely and back to school safely. republicans have spent months using every tool available to minority, to build on the cares act and get support to main street. the american people actually ought to see how people vote here. because just yesterday we put on the floor a vote for p.p.p. every single democrat voted no. every single one. it's something they've already supported before. money is already sitting there. more than $130 billion. this month our efforts

culminated in a discharge petition to reopen the paycheck protection program, which i've said has already saved 51 million jobs. mr. speaker, to the american public, what does a discharge petition mean? you see, the speaker, whoever he or she is, has all the power. they can determine what comes to the floor. but a discharge petition give gives the power to the members. all it takes is 218 members to sign it. all it would do is take the money that's there for the paycheck protection program and make sure the bill comes to the floor and can be voted on. it would be really telling to know how many people back home say they support it and how many times they come here and are fearful. fearful of threats if they sign the