[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 121 (Tuesday, July 15, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H3252-H3253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CONGRATULATING MILITARY ACADEMY APPOINTEES

  (Mr. Subramanyam of Virginia was recognized to address the House for 
5 minutes.)
  Mr. SUBRAMANYAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate 37 outstanding 
students in my district who accepted appointments to the Nation's 
military academies. They just reported last week, and these are 
incredibly impressive young men and women.
  My district, Virginia's 10th, has an incredibly competitive process 
and nominates the most number of people

[[Page H3253]]

to military academies of any district in the country.
  These young men and women were able to get through our rigorous 
progress by demonstrating leadership, patriotism, and a commitment to 
service.
  We thank the students for their dedication, their courage, and their 
willingness to answer the call. We look forward to seeing the 
incredible impact they will have as future leaders of our Armed Forces.


                      Medicaid Paperwork Red Tape

  Mr. SUBRAMANYAM. Mr. Speaker, we keep hearing the same thing about 
the big, ugly bill the President signed last week. We hear we are 
keeping Medicaid for the people who need it and only kicking off able-
bodied people. This is simply not true.
  These cuts to people's benefits are a little sneaky. It is not a work 
requirement. It is a paperwork requirement. They want to inundate 
people who need Medicaid as a lifeline with paperwork that will be 
difficult for them to do.
  These are folks with health issues, folks on Medicaid with 
disabilities, mothers and fathers with multiple jobs and kids, or 
without access to reliable broadband in a few cases.
  The red tape imposed on Medicaid by this bill isn't meant to be a 
flaw. It is the whole point. That is why they have pushed it forward 
past the next election.
  We have seen this before. In Arkansas and Georgia, they promised to 
save taxpayer money with ``work requirements.'' All they did was kick 
people off who actually needed it the most. Unemployment rates didn't 
go up. Why? Many people on Medicaid are already working.
  Who is better at paperwork? Is it someone on disability who Medicaid 
was intended for or someone who wants to defraud the system?
  Most of the waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid is actually from 
providers and not from the folks who need it. No, the real fraud is 
this paperwork requirement. We need to get rid of it.


                    Concern for Educational Funding

  Mr. SUBRAMANYAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today out of deep concern for 
students across Virginia and the country. Right now, this 
administration is withholding nearly $7 billion in congressionally 
approved education funding.
  This is money meant for public schools. These fund after-school 
programs, teacher training, literacy training, and more. Without 
warning, the administration froze them. The result has been delays and 
potential cuts and layoffs. School districts, including the ones that I 
represent, are now scrambling to fill unexpected budget gaps.
  I have heard directly from educators in my district whose jobs will 
be on the line and whose students risk losing vital support if this 
funding isn't restored.
  It is our students who will pay the ultimate price, but it doesn't 
stop there. The Department of Education has been painfully slow to 
respond to those seeking help.
  My constituents have been waiting for months for the Public Service 
Loan Forgiveness that they are owed. Others have been placed on 
incorrect student loan payment plans and subjected to poor treatment 
from loan providers. They are left frustrated and financially strained.

  The administration must release K-12 funding and allow the Department 
of Education to continue their work. Our students deserve better than 
this waste and red tape.


                    Congratulating Madison Whitbeck

  Mr. SUBRAMANYAM. Mr. Speaker, congratulations to former Ms. Loudoun 
County, now Ms. Virginia, Madison Whitbeck.
  Madison is a proud graduate of Riverside High School in Loudoun 
County where she cultivated a love for the arts. Madison will spend the 
year traveling to over 70 elementary schools, teaching students 
curriculum on making health choices relating to drugs and alcohol.
  She will begin her work on the Arts for All initiative, as well, 
seeking to expand access to the arts for students across the 
Commonwealth.
  Mr. Speaker, we congratulate Madison, and we look forward to seeing 
all the great things that she does.


                     U.S. Embassy Visa Uncertainty

  Mr. SUBRAMANYAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight a concern I 
have heard from many constituents about the delays and uncertainty in 
the visa process at U.S. Embassies, particularly in Islamabad.
  Families in my district have cases stuck in administrative processing 
with no clear timeline. These delays are keeping families apart, 
creating needless anxiety and making it impossible to plan for the 
future.
  Just last week, this administration announced the firings of 1,300 
staff at the State Department. That is 1,100 civil servants and 246 
Foreign Service officers.
  While these cuts may not directly impact those embassy operations, 
they are only going to have a domino effect that is going to hurt every 
single embassy around the country and around the world.
  At a time of heightened conflict and global uncertainty, we should 
invest in our diplomatic and consular capacities, not reducing them. I 
hope that the work in Islamabad has improved so that our constituents 
can be served better.

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