ms. sheila jackson lee. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the gentleman from nevada, mr. horsford, and mr. jeffries, both, for, again, convening the members of the congressional black caucus. under your leadership and the leadership of our chairwoman, the honorable marcia fudge, and to be joining here on the floor at least to date with our colleague from new york, our colleague from north carolina, our colleague from new jersey, which is clearly showing the vast depth of this particular crisis, going from south to north and to far west and the state of texas. let me say to those who are presently unemployed, the 72,000 a week that occurs as we stand on the floor of the house, that you can count on the members on this floor, the democratic members, the congressional black caucus, and our good friends on the other side of the aisle to recognize that this is not a partisan issue, but an american issue. just a few weeks ago or just

ms. jackson lee be recognized for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the gentleman who has served on this committee of opportunity nd quality -- and equality and justice for his entire career among other committees of the united states congress. let me thank the manager and chairman of the judiciary committee as well because we do not come to the froor in argument about each other's conscience. we respect the belief of others and the conscience of others and the integrity of the decisions made by those who choose to stand for their positions. but as a senior member of the judiciary committee, i only stand here on the basis of equal protection under the law and the applying of the constitution to every single person. which includes a woman's access to health care. and what h.r. 7 does, beyond the hyde amendment which has been law and in law and adhered to for decades, one that i would be reminded of the eloquence of chairman hyde who would be o

ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: our leader is right. our message should be today to e able to help the chronically and unemployed individuals who have worked and are now in need of an extension of the unemployment benefits. instead, today as we pass h.r. 7 we will be making a blatant, a blatant attack on equal protection of the law. and that disappointments me, because i know my good friends believe in the constitution on the other side of the aisle. and the hyde amount, of which i had the privilege of serving with chairman hyde for a number years on the judiciary committee, clearly is the law. but what this bill has done is gone even further. it has disenfranchised from their civil librts the people of the district of columbia and completely abolished -- liberties of the people of the district of columbia and completely abolished home rule to the extents of women's health. if it was a state the question would be whether or not it was appropriate under the 10th amendment an this incentivized small busine

ms. jackson lee: to address the house for one minute, to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized -- the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: i thank the speaker. in a few minutes i will join my colleagues in the congressional black caucus to discuss a very important topic that has long been one of our crucial issues, proliferating now across america and around the world. income inequality. but i wanted to rise as i understand the farm bill is now prepared to go to the rules committee and now will be on the floor of the house this week. an associated press article of the new age or the new face of food stamps, working-age americans. now in 2013-2014, 50% of those receiving food stamps are working americans. such as the young lady pictured here, 25 years old, with a 3-year-old son who, yes, was in the united states army. when are we going to realize that even though the economy is churning, the jobs being created are low-wage jobs, the working and middle class need our help, it's not a hando

ms. jackson lee, for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise today to speak of the optimism of this nation and of her people. frankly, we do live in the greatest nation in the world and sometimes we are questioned when we say that, but i say it proudly and with the spirit of humbleness. i know that because in far away shores and lands there are men and women who wear the uniform proudly. this morning in our own house of representatives we held a reception for the interns and fellows of the wounded warriors program, individuals who are in a number of members' offices and many of us look forward to that opportunity. they continue to serve. so i know as president obama rises tonight to speak to the nation, he will have a sense of optimism of which i will enjoy and support. he will note, however, that as we are optimistic, we must provide that optimism and economic opportunity for all of our brothers and sisters, citizens and persons in the united states of america. it is well-known that although we have made great strides we no longer have

ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes. ms. jackson lee: i ask to address the house, unanimous consent. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. jackson lee: i want to join the rules committee and thank members on both sides of the aisle for their hard work. but i want to associate myself with ranking member slaughter for recognizing that we represent millions of people and the constant closed-rule approach for bills that have not even been heard by committee makes it difficult to represent your constituents. so i associate myself with her plea for equity and comedy and i also -- comity and i can also ask that we recognize that 1.3 million and growing to 3.6 million, 4,000 a week, of the individuals who worked and invested in this nation have received letters like my constituent in houston, letters with no offer of assistance, but simply that your unemployment benefit, insurance benefit has been canceled. cancel your life, cancel your housing, cancel your food, cancel your medicine, cancel taking care of your children, ca

ms. sheila jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for three minutes. ms. jackson lee: i thank the distinguished gentleman. i thank the manager of this legislation. i thank the good intentions of our colleagues. i want to pause for a moment, mr. pallone, and just simply say that although these are important issues, as a member of the house judiciary committee i helped draft the privacy -- the patriot act, and business records 215, and now looking to constrain the collection of megadata. i accept the importance of privacy for the american people, but i pause for just a moment to ask my colleagues. if we have enough time today to actually pass the extension of the unemployment benefits, 1.3 million people, 12,000 in my own community would like us to stay here and make sure we get that done. i hope that my friends on the other side of the aisle will accept the challenge, republicans putting an exchange of the unemployment benefits on the floor to help unemployed americans.

ms. jackson lee: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: thank you, mr. speaker. somewhere in america a young child will not be able to see their immigrant parents come home this evening. in every state in the union, there are individuals who are undocumented that simply want an opportunity to work and dream here in america. i'm in the mids of a one-day -- myths of a one-day -- midst of pass day fast so we can comprehensible immigration reform. houstonians committed to fasting until this bill, comprehensive immigration reform, will pass. border security, access to citizenship, earned access to citizenship, elements of paying fines, elements of doing charitable work, ensuring that the arts and businesses come together and have the resources and talent that they need and creating jobs. in texas, there are 400,000 immigrants with some billion-plus dollars. removing that would have a terrible impact on the economy. passing comprehensive imm

ms. jackson lee: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much. the president is going to address this country and this house with great enthusiasm. for the work that he has done with his cabinet and members of congress, the democratic members and others who have worked with him, to make america better. he'll be able to report that three million americans have enrolled in the affordable care act. giving suffering americans with pre-existing conditions the opportunitier to good health care. he'll be -- opportunities for good health care. he'll be able to acknowledge that this family will be better off if states like texas would have expanded the medicare coverage for her children. and we're committed to working to make sure that that happens. he'll be able to say that he stands on the side of extending the unemployment for working americans, those who have worked and now are unemployed. and, yes, he will be able to say that

ms. sheila jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for three minutes. ms. jackson lee: i thank the distinguished gentleman. i thank the manager of this legislation. i thank the good intentions of our colleagues. i want to pause for a moment, mr. pallone, and just simply say that although these are important issues, as a member of the house judiciary committee i helped draft the privacy -- the patriot act, and business records 215, and now looking to constrain the collection of megadata. i accept the importance of privacy for the american people, but i pause for just a moment to ask my colleagues. if we have enough time today to actually pass the extension of the unemployment benefits, 1.3 million people, 12,000 in my own community would like us to stay here and make sure we get that done. i hope that my friends on the other side of the aisle will accept the challenge, republicans putting an exchange of the unemployment benefits on the floor to help unemployed americans.

ms. jackson lee: i ask to address the house for one minute, ask unanimous consent. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: thank you, mr. speaker. hunger is not an option. although there were many elements of the farm bill that over the years i have supported enthusiastically as a representative from texas, and i thank all of those who produce food, but it is a question of taking a stand. first, $40 billion. then $11 billion, then $8 billion. it is not an option in terms of the closing off of the opportunity for food stamps for those who are working, as the young lady, maggie, in austin, texas, and the 48 million women living in poverty and the 22 million children living in poverty. so i took a stand today and i'm proud of it. not because the work was not there for the farm bill, but we have got to protect those who need us most. hunger is not an option. i take this time as well to thank trudy terry, my dear friend, for her service to this nation. she is professional and distinguished and as we say to

ms. jackson lee, for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: i thank the speaker for giving me recognition this morning. 48 hours, million-plus americans received letters in their mailboxes. they weren't overdue tax letters. they were not letters suggesting that you are at fault, was not a notice to say that you're no longer an american citizen and it was not a letter to say you are now relieved of any responsibility to pay any bills or to provide for your family. was a letter denying or extinguishing, taking away the unemployment insurance that most americans have come to working that as americans having worked in their life that they would be the recipient of these benefits during a brief lapse or an extended lapse of not being able to find work. the chronically unemployed percentage is the highest it's been in decades, and therefore, this is not the time to delay. hold in my hand as well the esume of a competent worker, college graduate, has the responsibility to support his family and who has been looking for work for two years

ms. jackson lee: i thank the speaker. mr. speaker, right now, 1.3 million americans are asking the question, why? why is there debate about my ability to pay for rent or mortgage or food or the necessities of taking care of my family. why, having worked for many, many years, am i now being denied an unemployment insurance benefit that was utilized for the last five years and first voted on and put forward by the congress that supported president bush? in extending unemployment benefits. why is there not an understanding what it's like to receive a letter in the mail to indicate that you will get no more benefits, even though you're actively looking for work and even though there are three people looking for every job? and why does this house of representatives not understand that we can pass a three-month emergency relief for these individuals and debate for the rest of the year how do we get a payoff or an offset for funding it after three months? mr. speaker, this is an emergency and people are on a lifeline and we are kill

ms. jackson lee for 30 minutes. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the speaker for his courtesies and the leader for her courtesies for the opportunity to share on the floor of the house. and i would offer to say to my colleagues who spoke earlier that we all recognize that the affordable care act has generated opportunities for nine million americans and growing. let's find common ground. we have a law that is legal and afffirmed by the united states supreme court, but afffirmed by what is most important, hungry americans needing good health care to save their lives and the lives of their families. and frankly, i believe there needs to be security for all of the web sites of federal agencies rather than have bills that appear to be attacking the affordable care act again after 46 attempts to repeal it. let's find a way that we can work together to secure extensively the entire web site carefully that are utilized by the federal government. . . but i have an opportunity and want to cover an array of issues, as we begin this n

ms. jackson lee. >> let me thank the witnesses for their presentation today at a hearing that i hope in its conclusion will emphasize that there is no partisanship in the issue of domestic and national security. i want to thank the witnesses for their thoughtful presentation and in particular to thank senator lieberman, congresswoman harman, and general cane for their service to the nation. i think it is important to note that i hope in the course of the discussions about the issues of national and domestic security that we will quickly have before us the newly sworn in secretary of homeland security, which is a crucial issue, and that we will, like my ranking member has indicated, pursue the question of how you balance privacy and security with the question of the gathering of the megadata. as a member of the house judiciary committee under the business section, 215, that was not the intent of congress. i as a member of this committee truly believe there should be a balance. my questions will be along those lines of balancing. i thank you very much for your presentation. let me also say th

ms. jackson lee, for five minutes. i thank the e: speaker. of e are so many acts success of our government that many of us knows the greatest nation in the world. through the years we've had great leaders who have recognized that government can work on behalf of the american people. today we commemorate the 50th year of the war on poverty, and i thank my good friend, congresswoman barbara lee, who will be holding a commemoration in recognition of lyndon baines johnson, the president who declared the war on poverty, but also the many workers and many presidents since who in many aspects helped to build on the nation's safety net. oday, however, we find ourselves in a dilemma, not recognizing and accepting success where it is. poverty has fallen significantly over the last half century. since the mid 1960's, the average income among the oorest fifth of americans have lowered, malnutrition has largely disappeared but it still exists. in parts of my 18th congressional district in texas, we have very high mortality rates. it means that our job is

ms. jackson lee: i'd like to thank the leadership that we've had leading this country. in the instance of president johnson, represented by his wonderful family, his wife, his late wife, lucie johnson, and our dear friend here in washington, the former first lady of virginia, linda johnson rob. they understand the words that our president gave us. unfortunately many americans live on the outskirts of hope. and some on the outskirts of health. i join my colleague, congresswoman barbara lee, to say to you that the war on poverty is not over. for as we look at the red on this, every single state has someone living in poverty. and those individuals are represented in 16 million children. 20,000 military veterans are also included in those -- and those who are not getting unemployment benefits. 1.3 million americans. so as we look at those who need head start, a program that was a generational result of the president johnson's effort we must fight to extend unemployment insurance and we must ensure that the war on poverty remains our cause and our hope. it is important to gi

ms. jackson lee: i rise to say we are in fact our brothers' and sisters' keepers. i want to debunk the terrible definition and description of some 1.3 million, now 1.9 million unemployed americans. i reject the theory that they only sit around and sit around for unemployment and will not look for a job unless they are not getting unemployment insurance. when everybody knows that the requirements of emergency unemployment insurance requires individuals to look for work and everyone that i've spoken to, including the story of the woman in new york, 58 years old, looked for work over and over, and likewise, is desperate and devastated because she's not able to provide for the bare minimum. i've introduced h.r. 3888 and i ask my leagues to join me in legislation that will target and train the chronically unemployed, provide their unemployment insurance and give them a stipend for emergency industry training. i ask my republic colleagues, if they're interested in jobs, jobs, job, join this legislation, but right now, today, let's stay here and vote on unemployment insur

ms. lee: thank you. let me yield to the the gentlewoman from texas, ms. sheila jackson lee. how much time do we have remaining? the speaker pro tempore: one minute. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentlelady for her leadership and we can begin to attack poverty in 2014 by extending the unemployment benefits for 1.3 million americans. but thank you president johnson as we honor the fight against the poverty that has encompassed so many americans. the war on poverty is a war to be won. we thank you for child nutrition, national school lunch, indian reservation, legal services. i served on the board of those services. i say to our colleagues, look at the red on these sheets, you will know that poverty does not belong to any one member. it be longs to all members. all states have individuals who are living below the poverty line. it is time to continue the fight against poverty and to ensure through unemployment insurance, through job training, supplemental nutrition programs, through child care and head tart a vital, vital, vital transition opportunity for poor children. it is time

ms. jackson lee: mr. speaker, today i rise to plead for the restoration of food programs like snap that have been targeted for reduction by billions of dollars due to sequestration and direct cuts. in 2013, according to the houston food bank's map the meal gap report, the overall insecurity for houston food bank's eight-county service area was 8.5% and for children it was 22%. there are 48 million women living in poverty and 22 million children. the houston food bank reports that 415,000 children, one in four children in their area, are food insecure. when we had a meeting with the crncally unemployed, the food bank acknowledged the social network is overworked and overserviced. though i know they'll work to do their best, 11,000 more children are food insecure than in this year and 24,000 more duts are food insecure. that's why i'm introducing h.r. 3888, a new chance to start life act. i also want to salute, mr. speaker, the alpha kappa alpha, this is their founder's day on january 15 as well as the birt