[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 13, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H3401-H3402]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNIZING NATIONAL NURSES WEEK

  (Ms. Johnson of Texas was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize National 
Nurses Week and honor the extraordinary nurses serving North Texas and 
communities across our country.
  Every single day, nurses are there for us in life's most difficult 
and vulnerable moments. They are the first hand a newborn feels, the 
calm voice in an emergency room, and a compassionate presence beside 
patients and families facing uncertainty.
  Nurses do far more than provide medical comfort. They advocate for 
patients, comfort families, educate communities, and hold together a 
health system that too often asks them to do more with less.
  Over the past several years, we have seen nurses carry unimaginable 
burdens, from staffing shortages to burnout, while continuing to show 
up for their patients with professionalism and compassion. They deserve 
more than our gratitude. They deserve safe working conditions, fair 
pay, mental health support, and investments in our own healthcare 
workforce.
  To every nurse serving in hospitals, clinics, schools, veterans' 
facilities, nursing homes, and community health centers, I thank you. 
Congress and your country honor your service, your sacrifice, and your 
unwavering commitment to caring for others.


               Keeping Violent Offenders Off Our Streets

  Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the 
Republican Keeping Violent Offenders Off Our Streets Act.
  Let's be clear about what this bill does. It does not make our 
communities safer. It does not meaningfully address violent crime. What 
it does is continue a failed approach to a criminal justice system that 
punishes Texans in poverty instead of protecting public safety.
  We have already seen the consequences of this approach in Texas and 
across the country. Cash bail systems have created a two-tiered justice 
system where wealth determines freedom. If you are rich, you can buy 
your way out of jail. If you are poor, you can sit behind bars for 
weeks or months before ever being convicted of a crime.
  In Texas, we have watched State leaders exploit fear around bail 
reform while ignoring deeper problems in our justice system. County 
jails are overcrowded. Courts are backlogged. Public defenders are 
overwhelmed. Too many people accused of low-level, nonviolent offenses 
are trapped in jail simply because they cannot afford bail.
  This bill attacks charitable, nonprofit organizations who provide 
bail assistance. Whether you are eligible for bail should depend on the 
nature of the offense, your flight risk, and your prior criminal 
history, not whether you have the funds to post it.
  If this Congress truly wants to address violent crime, then we should 
invest in evidence-based solutions: funding mental health services, 
reducing court backlogs, supporting victims, strengthening community 
violence intervention programs, and ensuring judges have the resources 
to make individualized decisions based on actual risk, not a person's 
bank account.
  This bill ignores those solutions in favor of political talking 
points and fear-mongering. Americans deserve a justice system that is 
fair, constitutional, and focused on real public safety, not one that 
criminalizes poverty and expands mass incarceration.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill.


                              Immigration

  Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, for too long, this Republican 
Congress has failed the American people on immigration. We have allowed 
a broken system to remain broken: one that is too slow, too chaotic, 
and too unfair for everyone involved.
  The American people deserve an immigration system that is fair, fast, 
and final--fair for families seeking safety and opportunity, fast 
enough to reduce years of backlog that leave people in limbo, and final 
so that decisions are made efficiently, transparently, and with 
integrity under the rule of law.
  We will not fix our immigration system by abandoning our 
constitutional values. We will not restore order by stripping away due 
process rights or criminalizing people without giving them a fair 
hearing before the law.
  That is why I voted against the Lakin Riley Act and the Agent Raul 
Gonzalez Officer Safety Act. While supporters claim these bills are 
about safety, they expand mandatory detention and enforcement powers in 
ways that undermine due process and threaten our basic constitutional 
protections.
  In this country, we do not decide guilt or innocence without a 
hearing or

[[Page H3402]]

access to an attorney. We do not throw away civil liberties because of 
political pressure or fear. Due process is not a loophole. It is a 
cornerstone of American democracy. It protects citizens and noncitizens 
alike from government overreach and ensures that our laws are applied 
fairly and consistently.
  We can modernize our immigration system and protect public safety 
while still upholding the Constitution. Those goals are not mutually 
exclusive. In fact, our system works best when we defend both security 
and justice together.
  We need comprehensive immigration reform that expands legal pathways, 
addresses workforce needs, invests in immigration courts, and creates 
clear, enforceable rules that reflect our values as a Nation.
  America has always been strongest when we lead with both compassion 
and the rule of law. As a Member of Congress, I will never vote to 
sacrifice one for the other.

                          ____________________