[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 160 (Wednesday, September 16, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H4486-H4488]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ISSUES OF THE DAY
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2019, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr.
Grothman) for 30 minutes.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Nebraska
(Mr. Bacon).
Recognizing Dean C. Mathisen's Service to our Nation and Nebraska's
Second District
Mr. BACON. Mr. Speaker, I thank my very respected friend from
Wisconsin today for yielding. We had our 5-minute speeches cut short,
so I appreciate the opportunity.
Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to recognize Dean C. Mathisen for 20 years
of service to our Nation and Nebraska's Second District. Dean is
retiring from Federal service at the end of the 116th Congress in
January 2021.
Dean is a former U.S. Army officer and a combat veteran. He served as
a field artillery officer on Active Duty in the U.S. Army during the
Cold War, on its front lines in West Germany. He was next assigned as a
military police officer who deployed to the desert during the first
Gulf war. Dean also commanded a transportation company in the U.S. Army
Reserves.
In Nebraska's Second District, Dean served over 12 years as a senior
constituent liaison for the Honorable Lee Terry from 2002 to January
2015. During this tenure, he was instrumental in identifying the need
and communicating with the Department of Veterans Affairs about
bringing a national veterans cemetery to the district. Dean was a key
element in finding the resources to enable the first homeless veterans
housing project in Omaha to be completed as well.
Dean then crossed the Missouri River in Iowa in 2016 and continued
his Federal service in the office of the Honorable Joni Ernst. Here, he
continued to use his personal experience to aid him in understanding
the needs of our military servicemembers and veterans while solving
constituent issues.
In 2017, Dean became a member of my original Omaha district office
team as a senior constituent liaison. During this time, he saw the need
for and coordinated the efforts to establish a Federal veterans court
for the State of Nebraska. In the summer, Dean was promoted to deputy
district director.
In his free time, Dean is active in local animal rescue and animal-
assisted therapy. He is known in our office to be an avid horseman,
hunter, and shooter. He is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and
The American Legion and is known as a great Dane.
I want to offer Dean my sincere appreciation for his years of
dedicated service to our great Nation and to Nebraska's Second
Congressional District. His retirement is well earned. He should take
great pride in his accomplishments in both his military and civil
service careers for the citizens of the United States of America and
the constituents of the Second District of Nebraska.
Mr. Speaker, I wish Dean all the best in his future endeavors.
Hispanic Heritage Month: Honoring Kathy and Greg Gonzalez
Mr. BACON. I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to commemorate two wonderful
people during Hispanic Heritage Month by honoring a husband and wife
pair of wonderful police officers from my district in Omaha. They have
given lifetime contributions to law enforcement and have engaged in
community efforts for our hometown.
Gregory Michael Gonzalez and Katherine Lynn Belcastro-Gonzalez were
born in South Omaha in the early seventies to immigrant families.
One of six siblings, Greg grew up in a military environment as his
father was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base.
Kathy's mother fled from Lithuania to Nebraska after her grandfather
was taken as a prisoner of war. Kathy and her siblings were then raised
in the basement of a Lithuanian parish in South Omaha.
Kathy and Greg were high school sweethearts at Omaha South High and
went on to become married first-generation college graduates. Greg
obtained an athletic scholarship at the University of Nebraska at
Omaha, and Kathy attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln while
simultaneously working three jobs. She graduated in 1993 and joined the
Omaha Police Department the following year. Greg began his career in
law enforcement in 1993 as the only Mexican American in the Douglas
County Sheriff's Office.
As assistant chief of the Omaha Police Department, Greg now helps
oversee the hiring of officers and works to reflect the diverse
community it serves, including Spanish-speaking officers. Additionally,
Greg is an adjunct police academy instructor and instructs criminal
justice courses at his alma mater.
As captain of Omaha's southeast precinct, Kathy oversees one of the
most culturally diverse areas in Omaha. In addition, her precinct also
manages large-scale events and cultural celebrations, including the
NCAA College World Series, events at TD Ameritrade Park, and Omaha's
Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.
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Athletics are another passion Kathy and Greg share, and they believe
competitiveness and teamwork are interpersonal skills that transfer
from sports to the rest of life.
The couple was instrumental in expanding the already successful
police-led sports program for at-risk and disadvantaged youth in Omaha
called the Police Athletics for Community Engagement, or PACE. This
program is led by police officers and volunteers and was founded in
2005 by Detective Tony Espejo, a 30-year member of the Omaha Police
Department and veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Currently,
retired OPD Captain Rich Gonzalez serves as PACE's executive director.
This September, Greg and Kathy celebrate their 21st wedding
anniversary joined by their three children, Izabella, Greg Jr., and
Alex. Overall, Kathy and Greg believe they would not be where they are
today without the support of parents and extended family.
With an extended list of combined accolades and awards locally and
nationally, Greg and Kathy Gonzalez exemplify the American Dream and
the quintessential rise to success from hardworking immigrant families.
Mr. Speaker, we salute Greg and Kathy. May the future reward them
with health and prosperity to continue to serve and protect our
communities.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to address several issues.
The first issue that has been in the paper lately is vitamin D. I
have spoken before this Chamber several times in the past on the
importance of taking vitamin D. Over 40 percent of American adults do
not have an adequate amount of vitamin D in their system.
Several institutions of higher learning have done research and
strongly suggest that vitamin D is a way to reduce the number of people
who get COVID as well as greatly reduce the effects of COVID on those
people who unfortunately get it. This has been found by MIT, by
Northwestern in Evanston, and by Trinity College in Iowa.
It has been my disappointment to this point that the appropriate
government agencies that have no problem sending out press releases and
advertisements on COVID have not addressed vitamin D.
I was, therefore, elated to find out that, late last week, Dr. Fauci
came out and supported the evidence behind vitamin D's benefits. Even
more than that, Dr. Fauci said that he has been taking vitamin D
himself, which is very good. This is a change.
Traditionally, many people out there said that you should even stay
inside, and one way to get vitamin D is to be out in the Sun. So, the
idea that we need more vitamin D is the opposite of what some of the
experts or at least what some politicians have told us.
Vitamin D, of course, is good not only to prevent COVID but to
prevent other sorts of infections and respiratory problems as well.
Now that Dr. Fauci has come out and told us that getting more vitamin
D is a good idea, and particularly now that Dr. Fauci has admitted that
he himself has been taking vitamin D, I strongly encourage the CDC and
all other appropriate government agencies to publicize the benefits of
vitamin D.
We have to do something other than just wait for a vaccine, which may
or may not happen. And we all know, when it does happen, many people
will not take that vaccine.
I strongly encourage Dr. Fauci to follow up on his statements with
approving TV commercials talking about vitamin D and the fact that he
takes vitamin D in his future interviews.
Harvard estimates that 1 billion individuals worldwide may be vitamin
D deficient, and of course, the rest of the world looks to the United
States for leadership. So, the benefits would not only accrue to
American citizens but to citizens around the world.
Mr. Speaker, I remind you to take vitamin D, particularly if you have
any friends or relatives who may be vitamin D deficient or have special
problems. I would talk to your doctor and anybody who is going in for a
regular check-up. I would ask for a vitamin D test as well because
there are ways to reduce the number of people getting COVID and to
reduce the number of fatalities other than just hanging around and
waiting for a vaccine.
Mr. Speaker, the next topic I would like to address tonight is also a
medical topic that has been something I would have liked to address
since I got here. I came across some information with regard to
biosimilars, and that is people who need insulin.
I consider myself an advocate for the Juvenile Diabetes Association,
and I am aware of many different people who have diabetes. Depending
upon the type of insurance you have, Mr. Speaker, if you have diabetes,
you may be spending $100 a month on insulin. I have run into people who
are spending $800 or $1,000 a month for insulin.
Can you imagine if you have a child and you have to go out of pocket
for another $1,000 a month just to keep your child alive?
I ran into the fact that people are working on substitutes for
insulin called biosimilars. I am introducing H.R. 8190, the Biosimilar
Insulin Access Act, which will increase competition in the insulin
market by making biosimilars available. Biosimilars are to insulin what
generics are to normal prescription drugs.
It would be tremendous if we could get more of these to the market.
Right now, for whatever reason, it takes far too long to get these
products to market. Sometimes, they aren't available at all. Because
they are not available, people continue to have to overpay to keep
themselves or their loved ones alive.
Interchangeable biosimilar products are able to be automatically
dispensed at the pharmacy counter for their brand-name reference
product or brand-named insulin. We want to generate the same type of
cost savings for insulin that we have already done in the past for
generic drugs.
I realize it is late in the session, but things can move fast. We all
know that bills pass around here relatively soon after they are
introduced.
When I think of the people who are having to pay $1,000 a month or
maybe just $500 or $600 a month for themselves or their children, I
hope people in this building and the relevant committees and relevant
leadership find a way to get this bill to the floor.
I will be available to explain the importance of this bill. I am
ready to explain the importance of this bill to any of the Members. I
will be on the floor the next couple of days talking about it. I hope
to get a good cosponsorship list, but I do hope that the relevant
committees immediately take up this bill and get it to the floor so
that we can save as much money as possible for the people who are stuck
with this disease.
The final point I am going to bring up tonight is concerning border
security. It is an issue that, because of the COVID, has been pushed to
the background. But pushed to the background or not, it remains to be
important for this country.
No country can continue to exist if they have open borders and
unlimited and unvetted people continue to come here.
Now, there are people who come here whom we do not expect to come
here, who are caught or who come in contact with the border security,
and there are other people who sneak across the border. They are never
contacted by border security because, quite frankly, we have a shortage
of agents, though they are caught on cameras.
A year ago in May, right now about 15 months ago, 16 months ago,
about 90,000 people came into contact with the Border Patrol and were
allowed in this country--people who were not coming here through the
normal immigration channels. Since that time--it is something that has
been underpublicized, and quite frankly, it ought to be more publicized
by President Trump himself because he is not afraid to publicize his
successes--we have dropped from 90,000 people to under 2,000 people
coming into contact with our Border Patrol and let in the country.
This has been done by three things, all underpublicized.
One, President Trump, in part by talking about tariffs--I believe,
maybe not--has gotten the Mexican Government to agree to hold people on
the Mexican side of the border instead of having people who are asking
for asylum come to the United States and be released into the American
interior where we never see them again.
{time} 1745
We all know that some of these people are probably drug-running. We
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know that some of these people are breaking the law. And we know that
some of these people are going to wind up on some sort of public
assistance. So we salute President Trump for reaching an agreement and
holding people south of the border.
The next thing President Trump has done is he has contacted the
countries in Central America, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras and
made sure they are holding more people of not only their own nations,
but people further south in their countries rather than allowing them
into Mexico.
Now, the United States does provide foreign aid to these countries,
and I think it is important that we maintain good relations with these
countries. But I think it has been under-publicized that President
Trump, through negotiations with these countries, is further decreasing
the number of people who are coming into this country who we do not
necessarily want to have come into this country.
And the final situation, is now people coming into this country, who
may have COVID, are immediately turned around and told to go back home.
So you combine these three things, and you go from about 90,000
people coming into contact with the border patrol and being allowed in
here to--I am told--under 1,000. It is almost too good to believe. But
that is what happens when you have a man of action, a person who is
committed to holding people south of the border.
This is particularly true because in the future, we have people
talking about giving people coming across the border free healthcare.
We already know--unless you are blind--that people are taking advantage
of public benefits who are coming here illegally.
So I think at a time when there is so much bad news out of
government, we ought to pay attention to exactly what happened when we
went over 90,000 to certainly under 2,000--and maybe under 1,000
people--allowed in the country. I will point out that this does not
include people who do not come in contact with the border patrol. And
in the year that is wrapping up, we estimate that about 10,000 people
have come in here without contact with the border patrol. We know this
because we have cameras taking pictures of people sneaking across the
border. We do not have enough border control to turn these people
around.
Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank the border patrol for the number of
pounds of cocaine, methamphetamines, and fentanyl which they have
turned around at the border in the most recent year. That is certainly
a degree of success. I know fentanyl, in particular, has been the
newest lately, and I wish Congress would pay much closer attention to
the people who are dying of fentanyl overdoses this year as the number
of people who are dying of other unfortunate incidents.
In any event, those are three things I want the American public to
pay attention to. I, again, emphasize the importance of taking vitamin
D.
I emphasize the importance of getting biosimilars to the market so
that we can save money for the poor people who have to take insulin.
And I salute the border patrol and the administration for all they
have done in greatly decreasing the number of people who are coming
into this country illegally.
Now, of course, in the Chamber today, we have many different people.
And I am prepared to ask to adjourn, but if the people in the front of
the room would rather hear a little bit more about fenofibrates, I
would be happy to talk about fenofibrates.
Do you want to hear about fenofibrates?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Does the gentleman yield back?
Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield the remainder of my time and ask
for adjournment.
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