ms. ross: thank you very much, chairwoman stevens. i hope this is a very, very happy birthday for you. i also want to thank our businesses for joining us today on this extremely important issue that aeffects people's everyday lives. in my home state of north carolina where one of the top plastic producers in the country. as of 2019 we were ranked in the top 10 in the country in terms of number of employees in the plastics industry. with over 38,000 employees. we have also played an important role in plastic waste reduction and recycling innovation. in 2009 when i served in the north carolina state legislature, we were facing serious issues with litter and sea turtle deaths along the outer banks, one of the most pristine parks of our state. in response, we passed a law that bans single use plastic bags in six counties along the outer banks. while this law is generally supported in those communities, it was repealed in 2017. in addition, we have researchers at the north carolina state university

ms. ross: the chairman has told me ke we can also have ms. mason respond. ms. ramsey mason: i'm not familiar with the i wantry kacies of legal services fund bug having attorneys for tenants is an incredible important aspect to preventing illegal evictions. if tenants are able to bring claims in court it will act as deterrent to future bad actors and empower other tenants to assert claims that are valid in that situation. ms. ross: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. mr. cohen: thank you. there is hope -- help on the way. we have a letter urge manager funding for legal services and i was joined by mr. kennedy of massachusetts, and this year it's mr. fitzpatrick, mr. upton, mrs. dingell and ms. scanlon has been phenomal as co-leads on the letter. everyone is welcome. mrs. fischbach, you're on the voork i guess, there you are. you're recognized for five minutes, thank you. i have no jokes for today. mrs. fischbaches: no jokes? ok. well, i appreciate that. i am just very concerned. i represent a very rural district. i'm very concerned about the effects of the --

. >> now, ms. ross, i know you were watching the nationwide celebrations here in new york and los angeles. this live shot from galveston, texas, where the holiday originated 156 years ago, and a celebration is starting later today there. what are you seeing and hearing from participants after this historic week of news? because one of the ironies is we're talking about texas where just this week governor abbott signed a law saying you don't have to teach anything in school that makes you uncomfortable about race or brings up things that makes you uncomfortable while we're celebrating right in texas dealing with this critical race theory. >> one wonders exactly how they're going to explain what happened in the two and a half years between emancipation proclamation and what happened in galveston in june 1865. that seems like that may make some people uncomfortable. quite frankly, you have to have a conversation about the willful keeping of information, about the group of americans who decided that u.s. la

ms. ross: thank you for joining us today. i just want to remind my colleagues that this hearing is on self-help evictions that are illegal under the law and we have heard testimony about these types of evictions that has happened both before the pandemic and during the pandemic and are likely to happen after the pandemic. as we are talking about the pandemic right now we know that millions of americans have struggled with homelessness during the pandemic and millions more are at risk of eviction when the federal and state eviction moratoria expire. people who are chronically homeless and housing insecure are at substantially higher risk of poor health, as a lack of housing can disrupt employment, social network, education, and the receipt of social services benefits. in short, the pandemic exacerbated issues that already were occurring. despite local state and federal in action moratoria, some landlords have engaged in these self-help evictions nonetheless. in my state of north carolina, nearly 71,000 evictions were filed bet

i yield two minutes to the gentlelady from north carolina, ms. ross. ms. ross: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to highlight the n.s.f. for the future act. a critical piece of legislation that will bolster our nation's research enterprise and enhance our status as a world leader in science and research. and it is so wonderful that it's been done in a completely bipartisan way. included in this legislation is a bipartisan bill i introduced, the n.s.f. technology research institutes act. this important bill will create a grant program at n.s.f. that will fund technology research activities at institutes of higher education. this will further our national innovation enterprise and ensure our technology work force has the requisite skill to set work on cutting-edge research as the key to success in the 21st century. this program will enable our academic institutions, including those i represent in the research triangle area of north carolina, to further provide their students with critical research experience to build the robust technology work force our country urgently needs

i want to thank ms. ross for her bipartisan work on this issue, her enormous leadership, and championing this legislation in the house. i am pleased to support this bill and i urge my colleagues to support it as well. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserve this is whether -- reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman is recognized. mr. bishop: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. bishop: mr. speaker, s. 1340 will redefine the judicial districts of my home state north carolina. fort bragg which is located in north carolina, is one of the u.s. army's largest military installations. it spans six counties and is approximately 250 square miles large. fort bragg is located in two judicial district, the middle district and eastern district of north carolina. this has led to inconvenience for both independence and the court system. this will change that so they're located in a single district,

ross, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you very much, -- ross -- ms. ross: thank you -- ms. ross: thank you very much. inspectors general are vital to the integrity, efficiency and efficacy of our government. it is crucial that they operate free from political influence. . this critical legislation includes a barpt bill i introduced, the inspector general access act, which grants the inspector general of the department of justice the authority to investigate misconduct by d.o.j. attorneys. the d.o.j. inspector general is currently the only federal inspector general without this authority. this is simply unacceptable. d.o.j.'s attorneys wield a tremendous amount of power, including the ability to make life and death decisions. it is crucial that these attorneys are held to the highest level of professionalism and that their actions and conduct are subject to independent oversight. for this reason, i wholeheartedly support the inspector general independence act, and i urge my colleagues to do the same. tha

important because we hear about the individual enthusiasm and the consumer enthusiasm, and even as ms. ross was referencing in her questions and what she seemed interdistrict in north carolina with individual entrepreneurs and business leaders. but we really do need a systems approach and this also comes as unique time as the united states is charging a path forward on our broader infrastructure as well. okay, it look like as i was filibustering here, i called it from another collect from the knife state of pennsylvania, congresswoman susan wilde has come in for questions. allow me to pause on my preamble and recognizer for five minutes of questioning. >> thank you, madam chair. and i'm sorry to come in late. i'm juggling three committees thisg. morning, so we all know w that goes. i just want to keep it short but i've been listening to us much as visiting as a possibly could because it's of interest, it's a topic of great personal interest to me. what i really just, i'll just throw this out there to dr. keoleian. a recent study concluded that large amounts of plastic would accumulate in th

i'm sorry, ms. ross thank you mister chairman thank you to the witnesses for your insight and for your patience. i'm second to last so if you are wondering when you were going to have lunch it's coming soon. as the state legislator, i work to promote transparency and responsible governance in my state of north carolina. and as the civil rights attorney i've worked on both fourth amendment and amendment issues and done a lot of work with the press association and to prevent state agencies and law enforcement from conducting unlawful searches so this is a very veryinteresting topic for me . our testimonies highlight the abuse of prosecutorial discretion and do pose important questions about how we can act to fulfill our duty to preserve democracy and arobust free press . unchecked prosecutorial power poses concerns for all americans regardless of their political perspective. and it's important that we usher in procedural and normative ships that will emphasize responsibility with regard to prosecutorial di

ms. ross. rep. ross: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, director wray, for being with us today and your patience. i know it has been a long day. i have two lines of questioning so hopefully we can get through the first one quickly because my second one is an area where congresswoman dean wanted to talk about, use of force. first, because i am from north carolina and it deals with the colonial pipeline. in my district, during that horrible week long period, about three quarters of our gas stations simply didn't have the fuel for my constituents. can you walk me through the different ways that a company employing inadequate cybersecurity measures could endanger federal supply chains like this case? and, especially with crucial needs like oil and gas infrastructure. dir. wray: i think it is a very good question, but a full answer woodway exceed the amount of time we have allotted. i want to be sensitive to your time constraints here. certainly, all critical infrastructure increasingly is dependent on internet connectivity and incre

ms. ross. rep. ross: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, director wray, for being with us today and your patience. i know it has been a long day. i have two lines of questioning so hopefully we can get through the first one quickly because my second one is an area where congresswoman dean wanted to talk about, use of force. first, because i am from north carolina and it deals with the colonial pipeline. in my district, during that horrible week long period, about three quarters of our gas stations simply didn't have the fuel for my constituents. can you walk me through the different ways that a company employing inadequate cybersecurity measures could endanger federal supply chains like this case? and, especially with crucial needs like oil and gas infrastructure. dir. wray: i think it is a very good question, but a full answer woodway exceed the amount of time we have allotted. i want to be sensitive to your time constraints here. certainly, all critical infrastructure increasingly is dependent on internet connectivity and incre

ms. nelson, you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you. good morning, chairwoman ross, chairman nadler and ranking member fischbach, and members of the committee. my name is janai nelson at him associate director of cows at the naacp legal defense fund and education fund picks since our founding in 1940 by thurgood marshall ldf has led the fight to secure protect and advance the rights of black voters. despite the guarantees of the 14th and 15th amendments the voting rights act and other federal statutes, racial discrimination and targeted suppression of the black vote process. in the years since the infamous 2013 supreme court decision in shelby county v. holder, methods of voter suppression have metastasized across the country. by disabling section five of the voting rights act shall be decision unleashed devastating attacks on the voting rights of racial and language minorities. but in the decision chief justice john roberts expressly invited congress to update the act to respond to these modern conditions. however, in the eight years since congress has failed to do

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