[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 71 (Thursday, April 27, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H2072-H2077]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           END THE REGRESSIVE AVERAGE DAILY ATTENDANCE POLICY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ciscomani). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 9, 2023, the gentleman from California (Mr. 
 Mike Garcia) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the 
majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because all 
levels of government need to do a better job of getting taxpayer 
dollars to the classrooms and teachers instead of bureaucrats in 
Washington, D.C., and the capitals of our respective States.
  From Washington, D.C., to Sacramento to county governments, far too 
much educational money is squandered on administrators and central 
planning bureaucracies.
  I see a path, Mr. Speaker, to paying our teachers up to 12 percent 
more without spending an additional dollar from current Federal or 
State budgets.
  This week, I am introducing a bill that I hope eases the pain for 
teachers and students in the classroom. My Cash to Classrooms Act will 
ensure States are not allowed to use a backward, regressive formula for 
school funding called average daily allowance, or ADA.
  In California, statewide data for the 2021-2022 school year shows an 
ADA-to-enrollment ratio of 91.4 percent. That means that 8.6 percent of 
what should be the average school's budget is withheld because of 
absentee rates at the State level.
  That is an 8.6 percent reduction to their full funding because of a 
metric that, frankly, the schools and teachers can't control. The 
teachers and principals largely can't control who comes to school on a 
given day.
  In many cases, the students and parents themselves can't control when 
they come to school. In California, there was a waiver that allowed 
schools to be fully funded despite absences because of COVID, but that 
waiver itself is now gone.
  Also in California, many schools still today require students to stay 
home if they test positive for COVID, regardless of the symptoms. So, 
students aren't allowed to come to school, but the schools are forced 
to eat the costs.
  I have heard from parents in Lancaster, California, and Palmdale, 
California, in my district, that they actually won't let their kids 
walk to school on certain days because they would have to walk there 
alone. The neighborhoods aren't safe enough for them to do so, and 
there are not enough busing options for them. So, on the days when the 
parents are unable to drive their kids to school, they keep them home.
  Again, this is not within the control of the schools or teachers, so 
we can't blame the parents or the teachers or the students for any of 
this. That is a policy failure on the part of Sacramento.
  Part of this is making sure that we keep our communities safe and 
give our communities busing options. However, again, schools pay the 
price when kids don't show up for school.
  In reality, this average daily attendance policy is actually very 
regressive. It is particularly regressive for disadvantaged groups. It 
hurts the underfunded districts, the poorer neighborhoods, and the 
schools with higher percentages of minorities the most. These are the 
schools that need the funding the most, the schools that have the 
highest ratios of students to teachers, and the schools that have the 
toughest challenges with recruiting and retaining teachers in the 
classroom. These are especially the districts that can't afford to pay 
for the buses and additional costs to adequately provide for special ed 
children.
  These poor teachers and principals are calling parents nonstop after 
school to try to get their kids to come back to school. They do so many 
times on their own dime and their own time, and some schools have even 
gone so far as to put extra people on the payroll for the sole purpose 
of ensuring accurate attendance counts, not for the student's sake but 
to prevent more money from being lost from the capitals. This, in turn, 
pulls even more resources and funding that could be used for teacher 
pay or class enrichment.
  Schools are having attendance competitions in the classrooms now. I 
have seen it firsthand at my own child's school. Having attendance 
competitions as a teacher is like having passengers have an on-time 
departure competition on a commercial airline. You can root for an on-
time departure as a passenger, Mr. Speaker, but, in reality, you have 
no say whether the flight takes off on time.
  Teachers and principals can root for higher attendance rates, but the 
reality is that they can't really control it. Yet, they pay for it when 
there are absences.

  Mr. Speaker, if you want better quality teachers and more of them, 
don't defund school budgets because of attendance. This is actually an 
evil practice.
  Only seven States, including my State of California, unfortunately, 
utilize this average daily attendance, or ADA, method. There is a 
reason why 85 percent of the States don't do this. It is because it 
aggravates the problems of attendance in our public schools and because 
it doesn't make sense.
  Let's pay our teachers more, not less. Let's get more resources into 
the classroom, not fewer. Let's not let bureaucratic agencies pocket 
the cash on underruns that are created as a result of absentees in the 
classroom.
  In my district alone, local schools are getting only about 90 percent 
of their funding because of this archaic way of funding schools. We can 
give the teachers a 10 percent pay raise with that money if we didn't 
fund schools this way. This would actually attract more talent and a 
better quality workforce and keep that talent in the classrooms longer.

[[Page H2073]]

  Here is another lever, Mr. Speaker. Administrators at the Department 
of Education here in Washington, D.C., on average make two times more 
than teachers in classrooms in California. The administrators here--the 
bureaucrats in D.C. within the Department of Education--make $120,000, 
on average, every year.
  Let's pay the bureaucrats less and the teachers more.
  Mr. Speaker, I am committed to ensuring money is spent at the lowest 
levels of government. One dollar spent from the Federal Government 
behaves like 15 cents by the time it gets to the classroom.
  Let's download the funds to the local districts, get it out of the 
State bureaucrats and the D.C. bureaucrats, and let's ensure the States 
fully fund their schools despite attendance rates.

                              {time}  1700


                Celebrating Bishop Hearns 90th Birthday

  Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a 
community giant and historic leader of the Antelope Valley who is 
celebrating his 90th birthday this week, Bishop Hearns, Sr. of 
Lancaster, California.
  Bishop Hearns came from humble beginnings, growing up as a 
sharecropper in Mississippi. Driven by the desire to serve, he went on 
to fight for our Nation overseas in Korea in the U.S. Army.
  He came home and completed his education to become an engineer. He 
then started working at the beloved Air Force base in our district, 
Edwards Air Force Base, and had a groundbreaking career there.
  Upon his retirement from engineering, Bishop Hearns decided to 
continue on his life's path of service by being the first African-
American official elected in Lancaster, ultimately becoming mayor.
  A multitude of accomplishments for a wonderful and heroic man, and 
someone I personally have great respect for in many ways, especially as 
a spiritual leader in our communities.
  As the Antelope Valley gathers to celebrate Bishop Hearns' life, I 
too express my thanks and gratitude for his lifetime of continued 
service, leadership, and being a role model for all of us. May his 
patriotic and heroic life be a guiding light for all of us.


        President Biden Should Negotiate with House Republicans

  Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, with a myriad of crises 
under the President's current watch, from the border to our national 
security and, yes, to our economy and national debt, you would think 
that President Biden would be eager to come to the negotiating table 
with the House GOP to have the debates about the debt ceiling and have 
the conversations about viable solutions that actually get our economy 
back on track and ensure that we don't default on our debt later this 
year.
  However, as we are learning, that is not the case. It turns out he 
doesn't seem to want to come for negotiations and sit down at the table 
with us with an outlook to get to a solution.
  How did we get here, Mr. Speaker?
  Let's take a trip down memory lane.
  Let me remind you that macroeconomics is like physics with a dollar 
sign in front of it. For every action, there is a reaction. For every 
input, there is an output.
  When you look back, for a number of years up until 2020, you will see 
that our Nation's annual operating budget was essentially a flat line. 
It was about $1.3 trillion every year from about 2009 to 2020.
  In 2021, the number became $1.4 trillion.
  In 2022, the number was $1.5 trillion.
  In 2023, this last fiscal year, the number grew to $1.7 trillion.
  This year, when the President comes to Congress with his budget 
request, we see that he is asking now for $1.9 trillion.
  These numbers and figures are depicted in this chart. This line, 
instead of being flat and linear, has gone upwards and is parabolic.
  Looking at that from the 2020 budget of $1.3 trillion versus what the 
President is asking for today, with $1.9 trillion requested, that is a 
growth of 46 percent in just 4 years. That doesn't include the $6 
trillion of liquidity pumped into the market spaces and various Federal 
agencies and State agencies from the American Rescue Plan, the 
Inflation Reduction Act, and the bipartisan infrastructure package. 
There is still $6 trillion of additional liquidity in addition to these 
annual operating budgets in the market space.
  Mr. Speaker, this really is an existential conversation that we are 
having about the economy right now. The President and the far left have 
been walking us into a turning propeller, and we all know that is a bad 
thing.
  In the House, the majority, just yesterday, passed a good compromise 
bill, a fiscally conservative bill that addresses this concerningly 
sharp increase in Federal spending while also raising the debt ceiling, 
a looming situation we all must address soon before it turns into 
another crisis under Joe Biden's watch. The bill effectively allows us 
to avoid walking into the turning propeller.
  It is called the Limit, Save, Grow Act, and it will actually provide 
$4.8 trillion in total savings and cost avoidance.
  It will claw back billions of unspent COVID dollars that are still 
out there.
  It will repeal the additional funding for 87,000 additional IRS 
agents.
  It will unleash American energy production to lower energy costs for 
American families, making us more energy independent.
  It will also put a stop to the bad Federal spending habits from the 
last 3 years that we have seen here.
  This bill looks to reset our annual operating budget to fiscal year 
2022, which is not an extreme position. First of all, FY22 was just 6 
months ago, and we were operating under those constraints. As you can 
see, it is about the midpoint of our funding profile over the last 4 
years.
  This is a compromise bill. It is a great position to be in for fiscal 
conservatives, and it is something that the President should embrace 
and come to the table and have negotiations.
  Oh, by the way, this bill does protect Social Security and Medicare, 
and it does not harm VA benefits, as some have been pushing a narrative 
of. This is good for our veterans, good for our economy, and good for 
the future of Social Security and Medicare, things that I have been 
very vocal about supporting over the last several years.
  These false narratives about conservatives threatening Social 
Security and Medicare and VA benefits are outright lies. We are working 
to actually protect those programs, not jeopardize them.
  President Biden has shown little to no interest in coming to the 
negotiating table to pass a fiscally responsible bill that addresses 
the debt ceiling. As I said at the beginning, there are many crises 
that need to be solved at the hand of President Biden. All roads seem 
to be leading to the White House when we look at our blizzard of crises 
that we are experiencing right now. We can add the debt ceiling that is 
imminently looming in front of us to this blizzard of crises.

  As the House Republicans bring forth solutions, the President should 
work with us and implement these solutions as the President of the 
United States. At a minimum, he should be willing to come to the 
negotiating table and in good faith have these conversations, making 
compromises to get to a solution, just as our Founding Fathers would 
want him to.


                  Celebrating A New Space Renaissance

  Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, just 120 years ago and 
after being around for some 300,000 years, mankind figured out how to 
fly in our own atmosphere.
  Just 2 years ago, we figured out how to fly a helicopter in the 
Martian atmosphere.
  Last fall, Artemis I completed its historic trip around the Moon, the 
farthest flight on a deep-space mission in a machine that is rated for 
human occupancy.
  Just last week, SpaceX, under the leadership of Elon Musk, launched 
the largest rocket and flying vehicle ever flown on this planet.
  We are truly in a new space renaissance and a new golden era for the 
great American journey, to the Moon and ultimately to Mars and beyond.
  For the folks watching at home, if you have been reading the 
headlines, you know that Congress has been debating several important 
and, frankly, existential topics here recently.
  Whether you are reading about the approaching debt limit crisis, our 
open borders, the evacuation of Americans

[[Page H2074]]

in Sudan, the increasing aggression from the Chinese Communist Party, 
the CCP, or the fentanyl crisis ravaging our hometowns as a result of 
the open border policy, it is easy to get the idea that everything is 
all doom and gloom in the world today.
  Don't get me wrong, I understand, these are very serious issues, and, 
of course, issues that Congress needs to be hitting head-on, and our 
President needs to be doing the same.
  Some in our country have gotten so fixated on pointing the finger at 
Americans and our beautiful country and trying to say how bad we are 
that they have lost sight of just how exceptional we are and how we 
still inspire many in our country and across the globe.
  I stood here in this same spot 2 years ago and said:
  ``As a Nation, we are thirsty for something to rally behind, 
something that unifies us, something that we can all be invested in, be 
intrigued by, be impassioned about, and something to be positive about.
  ``There isn't a better movement to get behind than our Nation's 
modern space program.''
  I believe in those words as strongly today as when I said them.
  In addition to the accomplishments I mentioned earlier, in the past 2 
years, NASA and American companies have launched Artemis I, 
supercharging the mission to establish a permanent human presence on 
the lunar surface.
  We have sent the James Webb Space Telescope to the far side of the 
Moon to provide a generational leap in our understanding of the 
earliest days of the universe.
  SpaceX in the last 2 years has launched 31 payloads.
  NASA has recently named the next four humans to go to the Moon. These 
four crewmembers were named as the Artemis II crew. Three out of the 
four of them are F-18 pilots. One of them is a Canadian. And Miss 
Christina Koch, from North Carolina, who is an award-winning astronaut 
herself, will keep them all in line, I am sure.
  Congratulations to the Artemis II crew. They have worked hard for 
this. They are going to represent the American pinnacle of experience 
in space over the next several years and represent us well, as they 
have in the past.
  Mr. Speaker, my point here is twofold: One, despite all of the 
discord and fighting by elected officials, when government agencies are 
judiciously regulated and supported by Congress and partner with 
private entities that hire the best minds our country can offer, we can 
still achieve the impossible.
  The public-private partnership with NASA and its commercial partners 
is working. The international partnerships between NASA and their 
counterparts overseas are working.
  The second point is that none of this would have been possible 
without the 27th Congressional District of California. Ever since 
October 14, 1947, when Chuck Yeager freed mankind from the constraints 
of the sound barrier, the Antelope Valley has been synonymous with 
aerospace innovation. That is why it is known more frequently as the 
aerospace valley instead of the Antelope Valley.
  We are now not only the home to Edwards Air Force Base, but also to 
the Air Force's Plant 42 where the next generation of military 
aircraft, like the B-21 and F-35, are developed and built to ensure 
that we maintain air dominance over any nation that would challenge us.
  We also have the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center where the X-59 
is being developed to bring quiet supersonic flight to our commercial 
airways, Mr. Speaker. It is an aircraft that can fly supersonically and 
be hardly heard from the ground by the time it is all done. It is a 
fantastic development program, making the entire world more accessible 
than it has ever been before with commercial supersonic flight.
  The aerospace valley is a source of immense pride for myself and my 
constituents, just like how our space missions are a source of pride 
for the entire Nation.
  I say again, as I said 2 years ago, Mr. Speaker: ``Today, we have no 
excuses not to be inspired. We in Congress have no excuses to not 
support these exceptional programs in earnest and with pride. We have 
no choice.''


                          Tribute to Veterans

  Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share my 
appreciation for all the brave men and women who have selflessly served 
the Nation in the United States Armed Forces.

  America is the greatest Nation on Earth because of the many 
generations that have fought to preserve the freedoms and liberties 
that we enjoy as Americans.
  As a former U.S. Navy aviator, I flew over 30 combat missions during 
Operation Iraqi Freedom, and I understand the service and sacrifice 
that our Nation's veterans and their families make.
  For generations, young men and women have answered our Nation's call 
to serve. From the shores of Normandy to the jungles of Vietnam and the 
mountains of Afghanistan, our U.S. servicemembers have protected the 
beacon of democracy and her allies throughout the world. This is a debt 
that we cannot repay well enough.
  Over the past year, we have lost members of the Greatest Generation 
in my district, including a gentleman by the name of Lou Moore and 
another by the name of Richard Manning. I had the honor of meeting 
these World War II heroes, these patriots who lived a life of service 
to our Nation. May God bless these American heroes.
  To all of our Vietnam veterans, thank you and welcome home.
  With all that said, we must ensure that we are actually taking better 
care of our heroes and our veterans. As a Member of Congress, my top 
priority will always be constituent services, and one of the greatest 
honors my staff and I have is to have the ability to assist veterans 
with Federal agency casework, most often with the Department of 
Veterans Affairs. Since just last year, we have assisted over 200 
veterans and stand ready to assist many more.
  I especially thank two of my staffers, incredible caseworkers, a lady 
by the name of Chris Ward and another by the name of Frances Brown. 
They are the best constituent caseworkers in the Nation. Chris and 
Frances have processed hundreds of incoming requests from our veterans 
and participate in various outreach programs throughout our communities 
every week so that our office can be as helpful and as accessible to 
our veterans as possible. I am proud of all the work that Chris and 
Frances have done and continue to do to fight for our veterans.
  Chris and Frances have helped veterans get wrongly accumulated debt 
canceled to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. We 
have ensured that veterans are receiving their benefits, and assisted 
veterans in changing their disability rating to match the reality of 
their current conditions. Veterans that have served our Nation should 
never have to worry about having their basic needs met or their 
privileges and rights honored.
  A veteran in our community was trying to obtain his 100 percent 
service-connected disability for years. After contacting our office, 
one of our caseworkers worked with the VA and got the VA to recognize 
his unemployability. This deems the veteran 100 percent disabled due to 
being unemployable, and therefore pays him as if he is 100 percent 
service-connected disabled.

                              {time}  1715

  This veteran was swiftly approved, received a back payment of $6,000, 
and now receives his annual stipend of $3,600 per month.
  This veteran's casework success story is just one of many that come 
from our office, and I am super proud of all the work that my team 
does.
  I say this not to brag about my team, although I am very proud of 
them, but instead, I say this to encourage more veterans to reach out.
  If it is taking you more than a couple of days, please reach out, and 
we can help you accelerate that process, especially with the VA.
  Since being elected to Congress, I've cosponsored numerous pieces of 
legislation to assist our military families and veterans, including 
bipartisan bills to improve VA healthcare accessibility and benefits to 
veterans suffering from disabilities related to toxic chemical 
exposure, provide veterans with PTSD access to therapy dogs, and create 
a global war on terror memorial on the National Mall.
  I will continue to work on behalf of our Nation's veterans, through 
both

[[Page H2075]]

casework and legislation, to help bring needed assistance and honor to 
those that served our country.
  God bless all those who have served. You shouldn't have to call your 
Member of Congress to get help, but we are honored to help you and 
serve you, and we encourage all veterans to reach out if they need the 
help. Mr. Speaker, the VA needs to do better for our veterans.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. 
Foxx), a fellow conservative, someone who has been a mentor and a 
leader not only in this body but in the classrooms herself, and she is 
the chair of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, President Biden is waging a war on America's workforce. 
First, he made the anti-worker PRO Act a legislative priority.
  Then his Department of Labor proposed a rule to extinguish 
opportunities for workers who want to be independent contractors.
  Now his handpicked nominee, Julie Su, has barely made it through the 
Democrat-controlled Senate HELP Committee on a party-line vote, paving 
the way for her to head the agency overseeing our Nation's workforce.
  As California's Secretary of Labor, Su was the architect and chief 
enforcer of AB 5, a bill that mirrors current Federal anti-worker 
proposals like the PRO Act and DOL's proposed rule.
  Nearly 80 percent of independent contractors prefer their current 
status to traditional employment. AB 5 forced many independent 
contractors to be reclassified or lose work opportunities. Many 
Californians lost their livelihoods. Most rejected the bill through a 
Statewide referendum.
  AB 5 sank in such spectacular fashion that over 100 industry 
exemptions were created; from recording artists and song writers to dog 
walkers and home cleaners.
  This is the policy that Democrats tacitly endorsed by supporting 
Julie Su for Secretary of Labor. I have talked at length with 
independent contract workers whose livelihoods are put in peril by 
Julie Su.
  Let me explain her nomination and confirmation from their 
perspective. In the eyes of truckers, Su places 350,000 owner-operator 
jobs at risk. Truckers worked tirelessly to keep our economy afloat 
during the pandemic. This is their repayment?
  In the eyes of journalists, Julie Su's confirmation tells them the 
independence of freelancing is not valuable to their industry.
  In the eyes of tutors, Su is a slap in the face for those who helped 
save students from falling through the cracks during the pandemic.
  Many tutors are independent contractors, and two of every three are 
women. They wouldn't have a place in Su's workforce.
  In the eyes of every worker who files a 1099 on tax day, Julie Su is 
an assault on their way of life.
  Many Members have rightly criticized Julie Su for her long track 
record of incompetence, like how she lost $31 billion to unemployment 
fraud in California.
  Biden has already proven he will staff his Cabinet with woefully 
unqualified and incompetent Secretaries. Look at Mayor Pete.
  I am worried about Su being an activist for Biden's pro-union boss 
and anti-worker agenda. It is no wonder that industry groups lined up 
against her confirmation in a rare display of agreement in Washington.
  Her destiny might be out of the House's hands, but I can end with a 
promise. As chairwoman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 
I promise to conduct robust oversight of the Labor Department or the 
department of any radical who threatens our Nation's workforce.
  We will deliver to independent workers, to truckers, journalists, 
tutors, and more, much deserved accountability from their Federal 
Government.
  Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Foxx for 
being outspoken on this issue. I come from California. I have seen the 
devastating effects it has had on independent contractors; a record 
number of Californians are leaving. No one associated with AB 5 should 
be allowed to be in charge of the Department of Labor.


                  Raising Minimum Pay for the Military

  Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice 
support for my bill, the Raising Annual Income of Servicemembers by 
Enhancing Minimum Base Pay Act or the RAISE Act, which would provide 
our junior enlisted servicemembers a much-needed pay raise to a minimum 
of the equivalent of $15 an hour or roughly $31,200 per year.
  As a former naval aviator and officer who represents a district that 
has an impact on many facets of our military and defense, I've seen 
firsthand just how much our Nation has neglected America's secret 
weapon, our heroic servicemembers. I stand here today to say that this 
ends.
  Mr. Speaker, if you look at the chart next to me, this details the 
monthly pay that our junior enlisted servicemembers currently make.
  Starting out as an E-1 with less than 2 years, you can see a monthly 
salary of just $1,695 or roughly $20,340 a year.
  That is the equivalent of about $11 an hour when you normalize it for 
a 40-hour workweek. Let that sink in: $11 an hour for someone putting 
their life on the line.
  It is not until they are in for a few years and have been promoted a 
couple times that they make the equivalent of $15 an hour or roughly 
$31,000 a year.
  In other words, it takes serving your country for several years, 
signing away some of your basic rights and freedoms, shaving your head, 
leaving home for 6 to 12 months, putting your life on the line, and 
going through a multitude of sacrifices, for our servicemembers to make 
as much as what a McDonald's worker starts at.
  This is embarrassing, and it is flat-out wrong. That is why we must 
pass the Raise Minimum Base Pay Act or work this initiative into this 
year's National Defense Authorization Act to get our servicemembers the 
pay raise that they so desperately need right now. About 30 percent of 
our enlisted troops actually qualify for food stamps.
  I will not stand here at this podium and feign support for big bills 
that provide small support for our troops. I won't do it.
  Our Nation faces recruitment and retention shortfalls that we have 
never seen before, the steepest in over 50 years.
  This is a frightening concern for our Nation's security, especially 
as peer threats like the Chinese Communist Party continue to grow--not 
just in terms of head count and technologies--their military 
capabilities with their eyes fixated on a potential invasion of Taiwan 
and the elimination long term of the United States.
  Yes, right now we must get our servicemembers a pay raise and 
continue to improve quality-of-life issues for them so that we can 
strengthen our military's positioning, strengthen its recruitment and 
retention, and get our servicemembers a much-needed pay raise.
  Mr. Speaker, any NDAA this year that fails to adequately address this 
issue fails to take care of our most precious weapon system, our 
troops, is not a good NDAA.
  It is way past due to do what is right for the warfighter. Mr. 
Speaker, I am committed to doing so this year.


                            A Pinch of Salt

  Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage 
both parties in this Chamber to add a pinch of salt to our legislative 
diets for the sake of the middle-class taxpayers.
  The 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act or TCJA was the catalyst under the 
previous Trump administration that fueled the booming economy from 2018 
through 2020 before COVID impacted us and before President Biden and 
Speaker Pelosi went on their out-of-control spending sprees.
  These out-of-control spending sprees ultimately led to record-high 
debt and record-high inflation rates that we are very familiar with 
here today.
  The TCJA or the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act actually lowered taxes for all 
tax brackets and doubled the standard deduction for single and married 
filers.
  Mr. Speaker, the TCJA had a bit of a middle finger that was aimed at 
primarily blue states like mine, the great State of California.
  It imposed a $10,000 State and local tax cap or SALT cap for both 
married and single tax filers. What this meant is that if you paid more 
than $10,000 in State and local income tax or property tax, you 
couldn't actually deduct more than $10,000 of those taxes within your 
Federal tax returns.

[[Page H2076]]

  Despite overall lower tax rates and a doubling of the standard 
deduction, many middle-class Americans were actually hurt by this SALT 
cap and were net negative within the construct of the TCJA from 2017.
  At the time in 2017, a $10,000 limit seemed like a lot, but in 
today's dollars, because of the record-high inflation I mentioned 
earlier we have seen over the last 30 months, $10,000 now behaves like 
the equivalent of $7,000 today in terms of the deduction.
  At the time in 2017, only California, New York, and New Jersey were 
really affected by this cap. Since 2017, the median home value has 
nearly doubled in almost every State nationwide.
  Now States that have any income tax or any property tax are hearing 
from voters and their constituents that this SALT cap at $10,000 is 
actually affecting them, as well.
  At the time in 2017, this was seen as a white-collar, upper-class 
problem, but in California, New York, and New Jersey, we knew better.
  We knew that if you owned a home and had a job, you were likely 
affected by this cap. This is very much a middle-class, blue-collar 
taxpayer problem in my State and especially in my district.
  At the time in 2017, conservatives paid no attention to the fact that 
the cap was $10,000, whether or not you were married.
  You could be single; $10,000 cap. Married; $10,000 cap. They failed 
to recognize that this was, in fact, a marriage penalty that they were 
imposing.
  Today, Mr. Speaker, I rise to encourage us all to add a pinch of salt 
to our legislative agenda. Even doubling the deduction from $10,000 to 
$20,000 would still generate 75 percent of the estimated $800 billion 
of revenue created by this cap over a 10-year period.
  We can still achieve most of the revenue from billionaires with a 
$20,000 cap, but we also with that $20,000 cap would allow middle-class 
Americans to keep more in their pocket.
  To my colleagues on this side of the aisle who see this as a 
California problem and say, hey, screw California, I won't support 
subsidizing California's broken tax policies.
  Well, I will remind you that if you ignore these challenges, you 
pretend like these problems don't affect you, you don't screw 
California because ultimately, California screws you.

  Our problems become your problems, our State problems become Federal 
problems, and our tax policies influence Federal tax policies.
  I also want to remind folks that California's GDP is roughly 750 
percent larger than States like Tennessee and is actually 150 percent 
larger than the next biggest State's GDP.
  In California, we don't talk about the burden of subsidizing the 
other States in terms of GDP and revenue, so we should not look at the 
SALT deduction cap as an issue of States subsidizing California on the 
tax side.
  Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker. Californians pay way too much in taxes, 
and Sacramento is beyond dysfunctional.
  It is actually offensive how much we pay in taxes, but we can 
rightsize the SALT deduction limit at the Federal level to account for 
today's realities, and this would help all Americans.
  The TCJA turns into a pumpkin and expires in 2025, but our party and 
conservatives have an opportunity to address the discrepancies of the 
SALT cap within TCJA before then, and we have an opportunity to shape 
this policy while we have the majority.
  Mr. Speaker, on our side of the aisle, we have a significant number 
of Members from California, New York, and New Jersey whose constituents 
will accept nothing less than a real legislative victory on the SALT 
cap.
  Why should they accept anything less? Their daily reality is the 
madness of bad economic policies that come from Sacramento and Albany 
and are compounded by bad policies here in D.C. like the SALT cap.
  I am telling you, Mr. Speaker, a pinch of salt in this session will 
ensure fiscal conservatives keep the reins for another Congress.
  Ignoring the issue ensures that the far left will not only regain 
control of the spending side but also regain control of our tax codes 
that are going to be up for a vote in 2025.
  Congratulating the Hart Girls' Soccer Team
  Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the Hart 
High girls' soccer team on their recent CIF championship.
  These young women showed up and gave it their all every single game 
this last season. Now they are the southern California regional 
champions.
  They are recognized as one of the best soccer teams in the State, and 
I would say probably one of the best soccer teams in the Nation.
  I recently had the pleasure of welcoming the Hart High girls' soccer 
team to my Santa Clarita office earlier this week.
  I saw young leaders, young women who work hard and are disciplined 
not only in soccer but also with their academics.
  They have accomplished so much at such a young age and have displayed 
what young athletic talent and leadership comes out of our beautiful 
27th Congressional District in California.
  Congratulations to the Hart High girls' soccer team. They are a 
shining example of how great our communities are, and they make us all 
proud.

                              {time}  1730


                             School Safety

  Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, across our country, K-12 
students are preparing to wrap up school as the summer nears. They have 
undoubtedly faced a tough academic year that, for some, has, 
unfortunately, been marked by the scourge of violence that continues to 
impact our Nation's schools.
  This national problem extends from fights on campuses to local 
violent crime that breaks out near the campuses that induces lockdowns 
to evil, targeted shootings like we saw in Nashville just a couple of 
weeks ago.
  As our Nation's children recess for the summer, it is on Congress to 
use this time to work toward meaningful solutions that protect our kids 
as much as they work to protect themselves.
  Since the stewardship of President Reagan, our country has retained 
and demonstrated a time-tested doctrine of peace through strength to 
keep the homeland safe. President Reagan knew then, as we still see 
today, that anything less than the full projection of strength and 
willingness to protect our own invites attacks from evil actors.
  This same principle, which has been employed by our Nation for the 
better part of 50 years, should also apply to our most precious asset, 
our children. As Americans, we need to be willing to plainly 
demonstrate to any person set on attacking our kids in school that any 
effort to do so will be met with swift and devastating force. That is 
why I introduced the Strengthening School Security for Students Act, 
which would require and fund at least two school resource officers for 
every 500 students in public schools in the United States using 
leftover unobligated COVID funds.
  These school resource officers would be trained, they would be armed, 
and we would have two for every 500 students. That gives the school the 
opportunity to have multiple locations for these resource officers to 
put down any threats as quickly as possible.
  Some of these SROs actually exist today, but recent data shows that 
only about 45 percent of the schools have a dedicated SRO on campus at 
least once a week. Mr. Speaker, that is not good enough. Our children 
deserve better.
  We are surrounded by armed guards here in the Capitol on a daily 
basis. Every door we walk in, every building we go into, there are 
armed guards around us. Mr. Speaker, my life, your life are not more 
important than the lives of our children. They deserve to be protected 
as well.
  A proportionate amount of SROs on campuses for students sends a 
clear, unwavering message that we will protect our students from any 
harm. It is critical that we take lessons learned from recent instances 
of violence and use them to address existing shortfalls and gaps in our 
schools, from hardening campuses to protect students to investing in 
the mental health facilities of staff as well as the students.
  Mr. Speaker, another bill that I have brought forward to this body is 
the Safe Schools Act, which, again, uses existing unspent COVID funds 
that have already been obligated to schools and school districts to 
improve their

[[Page H2077]]

own security and make proper investments in programs that prevent 
violence.
  For example, under this bill, schools would be allowed to use funds 
that were previously earmarked specifically for COVID relief and train 
teachers and faculty on how to best assist children experiencing a 
mental health crisis and provide immediate support when issues arise. 
If you ask me, that sounds like a great use of our underrun on COVID 
funding.
  Mr. Speaker, this fight is a personal one for me. Like too many other 
folks in this Chamber, my own community has been touched by school 
violence when just a few years ago at Saugus High School, my alma 
mater, two young lives were taken too soon because of an act of 
violence. We can take meaningful action without sacrificing our duty to 
protect the constitutional rights of every American.


                      Honoring Sergeant Steve Owen

  Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage 
support for my bill, H.R. 1627, the Sergeant Steve Owen Defending Our 
Defenders Act. It is critical legislation that would make the murdering 
of a police officer a Federal felony punishable by only life in prison 
or the death penalty.
  For those of you who do not know Sergeant Steve Owen, he was a Los 
Angeles County Sheriff in the Antelope Valley in my district, a hero in 
our community, a family man who was brutally murdered in broad daylight 
on the streets of Lancaster back in 2016 by a vicious criminal who was 
out on parole.
  Sergeant Steve Owen's death is unfortunately becoming a common story 
in this day and age. In fact, in 2021, we saw a 60 percent increase in 
murder of law enforcement officers. This is due to the defund the 
police movement and soft-on-crime policies from elected officials from 
the far left, D.A.s who have been hired by Soros to be soft on violent 
criminals, and it has severely handicapped our police officers' ability 
to do their jobs and, in some cases, to go home safely at the end of 
their shift.
  This bill, named in honor of Sergeant Steve Owen, is all too 
necessary right now as our police officers face increased rates of 
crime against them. It is critical that we pass this legislation to 
ensure that our law enforcement officers have the protection necessary 
to do their jobs effectively and go home to their families.
  This should not be a tough bill to support for either Republicans or 
Democrats. The men and women who protect us every day deserve to know 
that we have their back. They give us a security blanket in our 
communities as elected officials, we should give them a meaningful 
deterrence to any criminal who is willing to do them harm. We must do 
more to take care of our heroic law enforcement officers who put their 
lives on the line on a daily basis to keep our communities safe.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. James), my 
good friend and West Point grad.
  Mr. JAMES. Roger, my brother. Go Army.
  Mr. Speaker, it is in similar fashion that I approach this body out 
of respect for American life and our servicemembers, even as I watched 
the situation unfold in Sudan with shock nearly 2 weeks ago when rival 
forces started fighting in the streets of Khartoum.
  It caught our entire diplomatic establishment by surprise, despite 
the many risks of trying to get the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid 
Support Forces to integrate into one structure.
  The fighting has been relentless, and except for a brief window in 
which we withdrew our diplomats, every cease-fire has failed to truly 
hold. There are pockets of less violence today in Khartoum, but that is 
because thousands upon thousands have already fled the bloodshed.
  I want to commend the bravery of our brothers and sisters and their 
professionalism, those military servicemembers who conducted a 
successful extraction of our embassy personnel, flying missions in 
Chinooks over 800 miles through the night and accomplishing their 
mission flawlessly. It was a remarkable success.
  I am glad that our diplomats are now out of harm's way, but there 
remains much more work to be done. Unfortunately, that work is not 
being conducted with the competency and urgency that the situation in 
Sudan demands.
  Congress was told thousands of American civilians are still in Sudan, 
but the Department of State, as this administration has shown a 
penchant for, has left them behind to fend for themselves.
  This policy that is furthered by this administration not only leaves 
Americans abroad vulnerable, but as targets to those who would hurt and 
kill us. This Department of State is proving time and time again that 
they are unable to perform their duties confidently. We must look into 
this as a body in Congress.
  Right now, the Department of State is unable to provide an update of 
how many Americans have contacted the department for assistance. They 
either can't or they won't. In either case, they will be held to 
account.
  The Department of State refuses to be honest and transparent about 
the structure of the task force, the number of consular offices 
answering the need of Americans on the ground, or to describe how those 
Americans waiting to get out are being assisted besides updates on the 
next foreign flight or vessel.
  There are French planes assisting their citizens, there are Chinese 
ships assisting their citizens, and there is silence for the cries of 
American citizens in Sudan being ignored. In a world where we cannot 
shoot our way out of conflicts exclusively, we need our diplomats to 
show up and with a plan that will have the full support of Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, our President came to this Chamber mere months ago and 
told us repeatedly that he wanted to finish the job. It is not clear, 
after seeing what is happening in Afghanistan and seeing what is 
happening at our borders and seeing what is happening in Sudan that he 
ever started the job to begin with. We need the leadership of this body 
to stand up for American citizens when this administration will not.
  Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, it is remarkable how 
quickly we forgot the lessons learned in Afghanistan. When we see the 
situation in Sudan and for Secretary of State Blinken to literally 
forget some of the lessons learned so quickly makes us wonder how many 
countries we are still vulnerable in as we move forward.
  I want to reflect on Afghanistan because it hasn't been that long 
and, yet, I think many Americans have actually forgotten what has 
happened there.
  We made several key strategic errors giving up Bagram Airfield: 
Leaving our allies in Afghanistan in the lurch without any notification 
in the dead of night, not handing operational control over from a State 
Department diplomatic mission in terms of an evacuation back to the 
DOD, and recognizing that we were, in fact, in a warfighting scenario 
where operational control should have been handed to the Department of 
Defense.
  It was a demonstration of cabinet members under a weak administration 
not having the backbone to stand up and tell their boss, the President 
of the United States, the Commander in Chief, that, Boss, we have a 
problem. We need to be more proactive.
  We need to take a step back, rethink our strategy here, and we need 
to make sure that every single American comes home. If you recall, we 
were actually bringing home American troops before we brought home 
American civilians in many of those cases.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the time, and I yield back the balance 
of my time.

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