[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 18006-18013]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS' HOUR OF POWER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Weber of Texas). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 3, 2013, the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Jeffries) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority 
leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
be given 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today, along with the 
distinguished gentleman from the Silver State, my good friend, 
Representative Horsford, proudly coanchoring the CBC Special Order, 
what we have termed throughout the year as our ``hour of power.'' With 
these 60 minutes, we have an opportunity to speak directly to the 
American people about issues of great significance that affect the 
folks back home in our congressional districts and that, in many 
instances, impact the entire Nation.
  Today, we have gathered here to look back at the issues that members 
of the CBC have tackled individually and collectively throughout the 
year on behalf of the American people, but we look back in order to 
look forward as we anticipate the challenges that we confront in the 
next year on a whole variety of issues. Throughout the year, we have 
come to the floor every Monday that we have been in session in order to 
address a great many issues of significance to the American people.
  We came to the floor in early February to deal with comprehensive 
immigration reform. Then we addressed the need to preserve section 5 of 
the Voting Rights Act during the week in which the Supreme Court was 
holding oral argument. We confronted the challenges in and around 
sequestration. We presented the CBC's people's budget, which sets forth 
a more progressive way forward in order to deal with the economic 
challenges that we confront in this country. We addressed health care 
disparities, the student loan crisis, poverty and income inequality in 
America, entrepreneurship. We had the opportunity to reflect and to 
celebrate the life and the legacy of a former distinguished Member of 
this august body, Representative Bill Gray, from the great State of 
Pennsylvania. We reviewed economic security through the labor movement. 
We stood up, of course, for the Affordable Care Act. We addressed the 
debt ceiling and the need not to hold the American economy hostage. We 
confronted hunger in America and the absolute moral imperative to stop 
the more than $39 billion in cuts that our friends on the other side of 
the aisle would like to make to the SNAP program.
  These are the issues that, throughout this year, we have taken to the 
floor of the House of Representatives to talk directly to the American 
people about the issues that we are working on on their behalf.
  Today, I am pleased that so many distinguished members of the CBC 
have come to join us, including the distinguished chairperson, who has 
led us admirably and with great courage and intelligence and clarity 
throughout the entire year. I am now pleased to be able to yield to the 
distinguished gentlelady from Ohio, the chairperson of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, Representative Marcia Fudge.
  Ms. FUDGE. Thank you, Congressman Jeffries, for yielding.
  I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues, 
Congressmen Jeffries and Horsford, for leading this CBC Special Order 
hour and for leading 16 CBC Special Order hours this year. It has been 
a pleasure to listen to you both. The information that you have shared 
with the American public is to be commended, and I thank you both 
because, week after week, you have led the CBC in discussions that 
promote increased opportunity, justice, and a better America for all 
Americans.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in saluting you both for bringing our 
message to the American people.
  Mr. Speaker, 2013 has been a challenging year. Partisan gridlock has 
made this year one of the least productive in the history of the U.S. 
Congress. To date, Congress has passed only 52 bills into law, and if 
you remove the ceremonial legislation, that number shrinks to 42, 
almost matching the 41 laws passed in 2011, which was, to date, the 
least productive year in the history of the Congress.
  It is far too easy to simply point fingers, but this much is clear: 
Congress is failing the American people.
  Partisan grandstanding has paralyzed our legislative branch, leaving 
our country unable to move forward to prepare for a rapidly changing 
and uncertain world. Facing widespread economic and political 
instability, America looks to Congress for leadership. The CBC has 
risen to this challenge, working with both sides of the aisle and both 
Chambers of Congress.
  This year, the CBC addressed the government shutdown, our Federal 
budget process, gun violence, voting rights, justice reform, education 
reform, and so much more. The members of the CBC also led efforts to 
directly engage underserved communities on the benefits of the 
Affordable Care Act; to improve the judicial nomination and 
confirmation process; in discussing the pressing issues related to 
immigration reform, especially for those of the African diaspora; and 
we convened a summit on the culture of violence in our communities.
  I am proud of the CBC for our bipartisan solution-oriented approach 
to the most pressing issues facing our country, and despite the tough 
legislative

[[Page 18007]]

environment, the CBC consistently looks to build coalitions and to 
enact solutions that will benefit all Americans. Unfortunately, a 
deeply divided Congress has prevented America from reaping the benefits 
of our efforts.
  As we move into next year, Congress must end our crisis-oriented 
budget cycle. Our inability to end the sequester, to move past the 
failed policy of austerity and to generate new sources of revenue will 
slow economic growth and leave all but the very wealthy behind. We are 
a great Nation, but we cannot sustain our standing unless we end the 
partisan political gamesmanship and live up to the promise of America. 
Working together, we can create a more prosperous America in which the 
only ceilings to our potential are the limits of our own imaginations.
  Mr. Speaker, in 2 weeks, the first session of the 113th Congress will 
come to a close. It will be the end of a Congress marked with missed 
opportunities and hyperpartisan games. The Congressional Black Caucus 
is prepared to make 2014 the year Congress moves beyond the partisan 
politics of years past, ends our legislative paralysis, restores faith 
in our government, and brings prosperity back to the American people.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished chairperson of the CBC for 
her thoughtful and eloquent remarks and, certainly, for making the 
point that we as members of the CBC have come to Washington to try and 
make a difference on behalf of the people whom we represent back home 
and throughout the entire Nation. We have come to work together to try 
and find common ground, to promote solutions for the American people in 
the face of the difficult challenges that we have confronted. We didn't 
come to deal with a government shutdown that cost $24 billion in lost 
economic productivity or to deal with this constant obsession with the 
Affordable Care Act and the consistent effort to delay, defund, or 
destroy the opportunity to give tens of millions of otherwise uninsured 
Americans access to health care.
  Hopefully, as the first session of the 113th Congress winds to a 
close and as we move toward the opportunity to get some things done 
next year, we can find our way toward a more productive second half of 
the 113th Congress.
  I am pleased that we have been joined by the distinguished architect 
of the Congressional Black Caucus' budget as well as by a member of the 
Judiciary Committee, who has worked hard on issues of social and 
economic justice. He is here today to share with the American people 
the work that the CBC has done in putting forth a more progressive, 
inclusionary budget that works for working families, middle class 
Americans, and seniors.
  I yield now to Representative Bobby Scott from Virginia.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman 
from New York and the gentleman from Nevada and the chair from Ohio for 
their strong work and, particularly, for talking about some of the 
things that the Congressional Black Caucus has accomplished over the 
last year.
  I want to take an opportunity to highlight the CBC's work on 
advocating for a responsible budget, on offering responsible solutions 
to address the budget deficit, to cancel the sequester, and to grow the 
economy.
  Last March, we offered our budget for fiscal year 2014 as an 
alternative to the budget that was adopted by the House. The CBC budget 
makes tough choices but not at the expense of our most vulnerable 
communities. The CBC budget offers a concrete plan that both cancels 
the economically disastrous sequester and then pays for that 
cancelation. Our budget is able to do so while also protecting Social 
Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP nutrition benefits, and other vital 
safety net programs that protect millions of Americans from poverty.

                              {time}  2045

  The CBC budget also reduces the Nation's budget deficit by 
approximately $2.8 trillion over the next decade compared to the 
February baseline calculated by the Congressional Budget Office.
  Other ideas have been presented in the past to either cancel the 
sequester or reduce the deficit, but they almost always include 
significant cuts to Social Security and Medicare. These ideas have 
included changing the way the Social Security benefits are calculated--
the so-called chained CPI, which reduces the cost of living benefits--
or raising the age of eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 67.
  The CBC budget is able to pay for the cancelation of the sequester 
and reduce the budget deficit without these harmful cuts to Social 
Security and Medicare.
  Our budget is in stark contrast to the Republican budget that passed 
the House earlier this year. That budget claimed--claimed--to reduce 
the budget deficit by $4.6 trillion over the next decade by making 
draconian spending cuts in non-defense discretionary spending and 
unspecified savings in mandatory spending. That is the category that is 
mostly comprised of Social Security and Medicare. They are going to get 
savings, better known as ``cuts.''
  That budget also included a $5.7 trillion tax cut that was paid for 
with an asterisk--meaning that the Ways and Means Committee and the 
Appropriations Committee would have to figure out how to fill the $5.7 
trillion hole. Now, arithmetic requires you to recognize that you can 
only fill that hole by either raising taxes or in additional cuts. We 
know that the Republicans are opposed to tax increases, and the only 
real big ticket item left that can come anywhere close to filling that 
hole would be Social Security and Medicare--the only thing left on the 
table to pay for that.
  The CBC budget does not include an asterisk or other types of budget 
gimmicks. Our budget outlines a concrete plan that makes tough choices 
and presents credible options that can be used to achieve our budget 
reduction targets.
  The CBC budget calls for revenue enhancements totaling $2.7 trillion 
over the next decade. Our budget outlines how the House Ways and Means 
Committee and the Senate Finance Committee can reach this number by 
highlighting several revenue options totaling $4.2 trillion that could 
be used to reach the $2.7 trillion revenue target.
  These revenue options include: $1.1 trillion that can be obtained by 
limiting deductibility of corporate interest payments; $1 trillion by 
closing special tax breaks and corporate loopholes; over $800 billion 
by taxing capital gains and dividends as ordinary income; almost half a 
trillion dollars by having a 5.4 percent surcharge on that portion of 
your income over $1 million; over $300 billion by enacting a Wall 
Street Trading and Speculators tax of 0.25 percent; $200 billion by 
ending the Bush-era tax cuts or that portion of your income over 
$250,000; over $100 billion by returning to the estate tax exemption 
that was in existence in 2009; and over $100 billion by reducing the 
tax gap through better enforcement of the IRS Tax Code.
  Those are specifics. They may be unpopular, but at least they are 
specific, in stark contrast to go find $5.7 trillion unspecified that 
the Republican budget included.
  The revenue enhancements provided in the CBC budget would allow 
Congress to totally cancel the sequester and then pass a jobs package 
of at least $500 billion. At $50,000 each, that is over 10 million jobs 
that could be created in 1 year with a jobs bill of that magnitude--
almost enough to hire everybody drawing unemployment today and to 
provide an additional $300 billion in long-term investments in our 
economy through education, job training, health care, and advanced 
science and research.
  As I said earlier, the reforms contained in the CBC budget would 
reduce the deficit $2.8 trillion over the next decade compared to CBO's 
baseline. That would put our Nation on a strong sustainable path, all 
without jeopardizing programs that support our seniors and programs 
that educate the next generation of leaders and business, science, and 
technology.
  As we move forward to 2014 and the next budget deadline, the 
Congressional Black Caucus will continue to

[[Page 18008]]

advocate these priorities contained in our budget.
  It is imperative that Congress pass a budget that expands economic 
opportunity, invests in the American people, and reduces our deficit. 
The CBC budget presents a concrete plan--backed by actual numbers, not 
by asterisks--that shows how we can reduce our deficit while not being 
required to make further cuts in vital programs that support our 
Nation's safety net, especially Social Security and Medicare.
  Most importantly, the CBC budget presents a clear path towards both 
economic prosperity and fiscal responsibility for our Nation.
  I want to thank the CBC budget for the opportunity to work on this 
budget because it is a responsible budget, does the right thing, and it 
has specifics that you can actually look at, in stark contrast to the 
asterisk gimmicks and other assumptions that cannot be fulfilled 
without going into Social Security and Medicare that the Republican 
budget has.
  I yield back to the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I want to thank the distinguished gentleman from 
Virginia for his very thoughtful exposition and explanation about the 
CBC budget and the fact that there really are two different visions 
that have been set forth when comparing the CBC budget and the 
Republican budget.
  The CBC budget, of course, is designed to promote progress for the 
many. The budget presented by the House majority is designed to 
promote, in our view, prosperity for the few. The CBC budget creates a 
balanced approach to deficit reduction that invests in the economy, 
protects important social safety net programs like Social Security and 
Medicare. The House GOP budget balances itself on the backs of working 
families, the poor, the most vulnerable Americans in our society. That, 
I believe, is the wrong approach to take as it relates to the well-
being of the American people.
  I thank the distinguished gentleman for his thoughts and his work on 
that progressive document that the CBC has put forth.
  It is now my honor to yield to our distinguished co-anchor for the 
CBC Special Order, who has been with us throughout the year anchoring, 
articulating, putting forth the CBC vision on a vast array of issues 
important to our districts and to the American people.
  Today, I believe he is going to speak to us about the work that he 
has led in partnership with other members of the CBC and folks on our 
side of the aisle for fair, racially inclusive, and equitable America.
  Let me yield to my good friend, Representative Steven Horsford.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Thank you. I would like to thank you, Mr. Speaker, and 
my good friend from the State of New York. One of the great pleasures 
of being a Member of this body is getting to know colleagues from 
across the State. We have a dynamic freshman class--five Members who 
are freshmen in the Congressional Black Caucus. It has been my honor to 
co-anchor this hour of the Special Order for the Congressional Black 
Caucus with my esteemed colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Jeffries).
  I would like to commend him for his tremendous leadership on a 
breadth of issues that have come before this Congress. Even recently in 
his role as a member of the Judiciary Committee, some legislation that 
we will be considering just this week is going to happen because this 
Member has worked across the aisle to bring people together to try to 
seek common ground. It is what we need more of, Mr. Speaker. One of the 
things that we are doing here tonight is reflecting after a year in 
this 113th Congress.
  I am a new Member. I have been here now, like I said, for just over a 
year after being elected. My constituents back home in Nevada ask me 
often, so what is it like to be a Member of Congress? You know, do you 
feel good about what it is you are able to accomplish? It is an honor, 
it is a great honor, to serve the people of Nevada's Fourth 
Congressional District here in the people's House, the House of 
Representatives. It is a great honor, and I am proud to be a member of 
the Congressional Black Caucus, which has colleagues who are some of 
the most committed proponents of progressive social and progressive 
economic justice legislation that comes before this Congress.
  As honorable as this position is, as proud of a moment that it is for 
me personally, when I hear the statistics that were read by our 
chairwoman, Chair Fudge, that less than 50 bills that have been passed 
by Congress have become law, that is rather frustrating, and it is 
frustrating to the American people.
  Prior to coming to Congress I served in the State legislature in 
Nevada. We only meet every other year for 4 months. Do you know, Mr. 
Speaker, in 4 months--in 120 days--we considered and passed 
approximately 1,000 bills. Think about that. One State can consider and 
approve approximately 1,000 bills in 120 days every other year, but 435 
Members in the House of Representatives in more than a year have been 
able to accomplish less than 50 bills becoming law.
  That is why the American public is so frustrated. So while I reflect 
on this year, there are areas that I am proud of in accomplishments 
that we have made. Unfortunately, there are bills that have been 
proposed that have not moved and legislation that is still pending in 
this body.
  My hope is that, as we reflect on this first year in the 113th 
Congress, that it will challenge us as Members to come prepared in 2014 
to get the people's job done. There are a number of key bills that we 
need to focus on. As my colleague has talked about, we have fought to 
ensure our justice system is more fair and protects all citizens 
equally under the law. We have fought to increase access to affordable 
health care, something that is desperately needed for millions upon 
millions of Americans. Our leaders have worked to fight to preserve and 
to protect important social safety nets like SNAP benefits and Medicare 
and Medicaid because we have made it our mission to protect America's 
most vulnerable citizens.
  We have time and time again called for the sequester to be ended. I 
just met with constituents in my district in Nevada who said, please 
don't allow a government shutdown to happen again in January, don't 
allow these cuts under the sequester; the second round of cuts would be 
even more harmful, let alone the first round to take hold.
  Despite these areas, there is work to be done. One of the issues that 
I have been particularly involved with, as a member of this 
Congressional Black Caucus, has been immigration reform, the need for 
comprehensive immigration reform.
  I am proud to have served as one of the cochairs, along with my 
colleague, Mr. Jeffries, and Representative Clarke, also from New York, 
as cochairs of the Congressional Black Caucus' Immigration Reform Task 
Force. We have worked tirelessly with other House Democrats to craft a 
bipartisan commonsense bill, H.R. 15, which aims to begin fixing our 
broken immigration system.
  It would grow our economy, we know, by 5 percent in just two decades, 
reduce our deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars, create thousands 
of jobs, and, most importantly, Mr. Speaker, it would bring millions of 
people out of the shadows and into society, including thousands of 
DREAMers, by creating a pathway to citizenship, all while shoring up 
our border security.
  As a member of the Homeland Security Committee, I know my colleague, 
Mr. Jeffries, on the Judiciary Committee, we have worked time and time 
again on legislation to bring forward proposals on comprehensive 
immigration reform. We are asking our colleagues on the other side to 
join with us to make these things possible, to not just talk about it, 
to not be proud or pleased with just 50 bills being passed by one of 
the least productive Congresses in the history, but to actually 
accomplish things that the American public expects us to accomplish.
  Another top priority that I would like to talk about this evening, 
Mr. Speaker, that we have been working on

[[Page 18009]]

with my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus is preventing 
racial profiling practices in our law enforcement that have been 
hurting individuals across the country.
  Our citizens deserve to live free from fear, especially among those 
whose jobs are to serve and to protect. That is why I introduced the 
Universal RESPECT Act, a bill that would help prevent racial profiling 
practices from occurring.
  The Universal RESPECT Act will establish an interagency review of 
Federal efforts to eliminate racial profiling in the United States by 
amending the Homeland Security Act to require that recipients of 
Federal law enforcement grants and training facilities do not engage in 
racial profiling.

                              {time}  2100

  Simply put, Mr. Speaker, the Universal RESPECT Act will end the 
practice of rewarding law enforcement programs that do not respect 
basic civil rights and civil liberties. We need to make sure we stay 
vigilant in our fight for justice in this country, and that has been a 
constant theme in the Congressional Black Caucus's legislative agenda, 
whether it is on the budget, as our colleague, Mr. Scott just talked 
about, or a plethora of bills that have been brought forward by 
individual members, and is central to the FY14 budget that has been 
worked on by the Congressional Black Caucus which reduces the budget 
and creates millions of jobs in a fair and balanced way.
  Let me just close by talking about one final area, Mr. Speaker, that 
we as Members of this body need to stay focused on, and that is jobs 
and growing the economy. In my home State of Nevada, we still have a 
stubbornly high unemployment rate above the national average. Despite 
improvements in certain sectors, there are far too many Nevadans who 
are still looking for work, many who have been out of work a year, year 
and a half, going on 2 years. And I know as part of the budget debate 
that will occur between now and January 15 will be a discussion about 
extending unemployment benefits, which is incredibly important to 
American families who have been struggling during this sustained 
recession.
  So I would challenge my colleagues on the other side, allow us to 
bring forward the number of jobs legislation and bills that would help 
build our infrastructure back up in this country. Allow us to bring 
these bills to a vote in this Chamber so that we can get our country 
moving again, we can get the middle class economy moving, we can help 
middle class families who are trying to provide for themselves and 
their families with good, sustainable, family-sustainable jobs, not 
low-wage jobs that put people in the same position to depend on 
assistance programs by the Federal Government. That is not what the 
American public wants. They want a family-sustaining job that allows 
them to provide for themselves and their family. That is what we are 
arguing for. It is what the Congressional Black Caucus represents each 
and every week when we come to this Special Order hour and why these 
issues are incredibly important.
  So as we reflect back on this year, this year of missed 
opportunities, as my colleague from New York just said, it is in fact 
missed opportunities because we could have done so much more in this 
body. There are 435 Members, dedicated staff, people who love our 
country and want to see it progress, but it is time for us to put the 
partisanship, the ideological views aside and to allow us to put our 
country first. That is what I am here for, Mr. Speaker. I know it is 
what my colleagues are here for, and I look forward to working with 
anyone from either side of the aisle from either Chamber who wants to 
work with the President to move our country forward, and I appreciate 
this Special Order time.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentleman from the Silver 
State for his observations and for his look forward as it relates to 
the issues that we all hope this Congress will decide to tackle as we 
close out the first half of the 113th Congress and move toward calendar 
year 2014.
  This has been a year of lost opportunities, of obstruction, of delay, 
of distraction, and a failure to meaningfully address the issues of 
importance to the American people. This has been a very schizophrenic 
economic recovery. We have come a long way since the collapse of the 
economy in 2008, but we still have a long way to go.
  As members of the CBC have consistently pointed out from the floor of 
the House of Representatives, there are people who have been left 
behind, and the American people deserve this Congress putting aside 
issues of partisan bickering and to attempt to find common ground to 
solve their problems.
  The stock market is way up. Corporate profits are way up. 
Productivity of the American people, way up. CEO compensation is way 
up, yet unemployment still remains stubbornly high. There are Americans 
who have been left behind, and we have failed to take up a jobs bill 
from the floor of the House of Representatives at any point this year.
  As my colleague from Nevada also pointed out, we have a very broken 
immigration system. There is almost uniform agreement across the aisle 
about that fact. Yet there has been a failure to bring a meaningful 
piece of immigration reform legislation to the floor of the House of 
Representatives, despite the overwhelming demand for action by the 
American people.
  Now, we all agree, as the CBC indicated earlier this year in February 
when we took to the floor to talk about the need to address the issue 
of the broken immigration system, that something needs to be done. And 
there really only are three possible options:
  One, we have mass deportation of the 11 million undocumented 
individuals who are in this country. That is option number one;
  Option number two is the status quo; just leave the broken 
immigration system in place;
  Option number three is meaningful, comprehensive immigration reform 
with a tough but fair pathway towards citizenship.
  Mass deportation is impractical; the status quo, unacceptable. 
Comprehensive immigration reform is the right thing to do for this 
country, for the economy, and for the American people.
  I am hopeful, as my colleague from Nevada indicated, that that is the 
direction that we will go in as we speed to a close this year and 
attempt to restart the Congress after the end of the first half of this 
session.
  I am pleased that we have been joined by the distinguished gentlelady 
from Texas who is a member of both the House Judiciary Committee and 
the Homeland Security Committee. She has worked on many issues. She is 
a leader within the Congressional Black Caucus and is a leader within 
the Congress on the issues of social and economic justice. It is now my 
honor and privilege to yield to her, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the gentleman from New York. It was thought 
provoking to hear the gentleman from Nevada offer his thoughts of 
bipartisanship and to listen to the astute gentleman from Virginia on 
the many issues that have been left along the highway of despair, and 
also to be joined by Congresswoman Clarke from New York, whom we will 
hear from shortly.
  Let me thank you for the leadership you have given to this special 
time, and let me try to work to be succinct on the issues that have 
been left along the highway of despair.
  You started out with immigration reform, and you were kind enough to 
note that I have served on the Judiciary Committee for a number of 
years, formerly the ranking member on the Immigration Subcommittee, and 
now the ranking member on the Border Security and Maritime 
Subcommittee.
  I will tell you that there are many times when we could have come 
together and passed comprehensive immigration reform, but I am going to 
tout as a bipartisan legitimate expression of border security, to share 
with my colleagues H.R. 1417, which many know was passed out of the 
Homeland Security House committee through the efforts of Republicans 
joined by Democrats, and the legislation passed with

[[Page 18010]]

no weaknesses, no loopholes, no disrespect for the importance of the 
security of the northern and southern border. There were very strong 
responses as it relates to operational control, as it relates to the 
amount of control that we would have at the border, but matching it 
with the recognition that there must be an infrastructure of 
immigration reform. But let me throw all those words away and say there 
must be humanity. There must be concern for human beings, for families 
torn apart, for DREAM children destined to be valedictorians or 
salutatorians or to be generals in the United States military. We are 
losing the talent of those who have trained here with knowledge about 
the next level of technology because of the no H-1B because we do not 
have a comprehensive approach. Those folks are leaving, and, therefore, 
we are losing the geniuses that we trained to be able to help us.
  So I want to join the gentleman and say to him that, if there is any 
cause on which we can come together, it would be comprehensive 
immigration reform. Might I just take note of my button that honors the 
Fast for Families, those that have been fasting for almost 20 days, 
almost a month, because they are trying to pull at the heartstrings of 
America and the heartstrings of this Congress to recognize that they 
are Americans, too. They are just a few blocks down the street. A few 
blocks down the street, families, children are fasting, asking, Is 
there someone who can hear our plea?
  So I thank the gentleman for bringing it up, and I just want to make 
some other points that we have been lingering on and have not followed 
through on.
  I introduced H.R. 2585, which is an antibullying bill, Prevention of 
Bullying and Intervention, and reflects where America is when you can 
find most every child that is interviewed has indicated that they have 
been bullied; or something happens to a child in high school, and they 
will talk about having been bullied some years back; or a child will be 
shot or violence will occur, and they will talk about bullying, even to 
the extent it is raised up in the NFL. And I want to pay tribute to a 
young man at the Baltimore Ravens, Mr. Rice, who has taken this cause 
up from the NFL.
  H.R. 2585 would reauthorize the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant, 
and it would provide sort of a sentence road map that allows 
organizations that would be funded under the block grant to be able to 
focus on bullying prevention and intervention. How simple a legislative 
initiative is that? And I would offer to say that I heard from 
leadership on both sides of the aisle. So why not pass something as 
simple as that even before Christmas to be able to move forward on 
something that would not, in fact, be a negative?
  I just quickly want to indicate that we have young people exposed to 
violence in ways that we have not known. Thirty percent of U.S. 
students in grades 6 through 10 are involved in moderate or frequent 
bullying. There are cases in Florida where young people have been 
arrested because, tragically, someone committed suicide, or the hearing 
I held in Houston where parents upon parents and students came in to 
testify how they had been bullied. One out of four kids is bullied.
  Some would say they are calling everything bullying. Well, I believe 
if we do the outreach, we can find a way to develop an infrastructure 
so that there will be people who find the comfort of knowing someone 
cares, a system that intervenes when someone feels something is 
untoward, and to break the shackles of bullying by getting rid of the 
atmosphere that is tolerated because it is done in silence and fear.
  I also introduced gun safety legislation, and I would hope that some 
day we could have universal background checks. As I was driving to the 
airport, I read an ad in the Houston Chronicle that had gun safes on 
sale. I said that guy, I want to give him an award, because my simple 
legislation requires individuals to store their guns. They can have all 
the guns they want, but have them stored and safe, particularly if you 
have a large number of them, to be able to secure and protect children 
and those who want to do us harm.
  One of the things that the CBC worked on, and I am proud that we 
worked on it, but I will say that it brings me sadness, we are at a 
point where we have cut $40 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition 
program. I went to my food bank and had them explain what a devastating 
impact that $40 billion, $4 billion a year, will have on the people who 
are in need in Houston in particular.

                              {time}  2115

  In my city of Houston, the census report said over the last 12 
months, 442,881 incomes were below the poverty level, and 18 percent of 
households in the State of Texas in 2009 through 2011 ranked second in 
the highest rate of food security. So why can we not have an ag bill 
that would restore the $40 billion? Why are we suggesting that those 
individuals are deadbeats when one-half of the persons on food stamps 
or SNAP are, in fact, children? That is something, Mr. Jeffries, that 
we could come together on and redo or the conference could redo. We 
could look to ensure a place of laws but a place of humanity.
  In conclusion, allow me to throw in two disparate points, but I 
consider them justice issues. First, that is the Affordable Care Act, 
which is a justice initiative. It is to say that we all have access to 
good health care. That is not a carte blanche for good health because 
we must all change our attitudes and do a lot of things to make us 
healthy, but it certainly is an intervener that allows to us have 
preventive care; it allows women to not be characterized as a 
preexisting disease because they are pregnant; it allows children born 
with preexisting diseases not to be eliminated from the insurance 
rolls; and it allowed 13 million Americans to receive $1.1 billion in 
rebates from their health insurance last year when the Affordable Care 
Act was in place. Now 105 million Americans have free preventive 
services.
  So all of the talk of the technology takes away from the core value 
that Americans should have access to health care, and today I am glad 
to hear that we are making strides in a technological system that is 
not always perfect. Let us not undermine this bill. I am very glad that 
the Congressional Black Caucus, under the leadership of our chairwoman, 
has been strong in educating our constituents about the Affordable Care 
Act.
  In conclusion, a remaining challenge that we have: the Voting Rights 
Act must be reauthorized to the extent of a provision that was 
eliminated by the Supreme Court decision wrongly, Shelby County v. 
Holder, that took away the provisions of preclearance which, in fact, 
provided justice and the right to vote for all Americans. We are 
gathered, hopefully, in a bipartisan manner with the leadership of Mr. 
Sensenbrenner and others who are on various committees in the 
Congressional Black Caucus and the leadership of our Democratic Caucus 
and the Republican conference to come together in a bipartisan manner 
to be able to accept the constitutional premise best said by the 
Declaration of Independence: that we all are created equally with 
certain inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness.
  We have coddled the right to vote. We have welcomed the right to 
vote. I am reading a story about our Puerto Rican citizens who don't 
have the right to vote and how they felt like second-class citizens. 
There are those of us on the mainland that have had roadblocks thrown 
across the pathway that needed to be protected not only by the Bill of 
Rights but by the Voting Rights Act that has withstood the test of 
time, that has been reviewed. So it is important that we get a 
construct that all of us can support so that if there is a voter ID 
law, it does not block people from voting, it does not keep one 
particular group from getting a voter ID law because they do not have 
access, like in Texas with the Department of Public Safety. In essence, 
the Voting Rights Act is one that reaffirms America's commitment that 
every person has a right to vote--one person, one vote.
  I want to thank the Congressional Black Caucus for being a leader on 
so

[[Page 18011]]

many issues, from preventing gun violence to the issue of dealing with 
our children and anti-bullying and intervention, to the idea of the 
Affordable Care Act, to restoring SNAP funding, to the Voting Rights 
Act and, yes, to a comprehensive approach to immigration reform, 
particularly the idea that we worked on so extensively, and that is 
diversity visas.
  When I go home and speak to people from all walks of life, 
particularly the African community, they understand the work the 
Congressional Black Caucus has done--the Haitians, those from the 
Caribbean, those from South Asia--in reuniting families. They 
understand that we have been a leader on the broad landscape of 
comprehensive immigration reform.
  For that reason, I am hoping that we will not end this session by 
looking sadly back on what we have not done, but that we will roll up 
our sleeves. I also hope that before we leave here before the end of 
this particular first session of the 113th Congress, we will have the 
opportunity to see an ag bill that will restore a portion of the SNAP 
dollars, helping those who cannot help themselves; that we will 
actually have passed anti-bullying legislation that should draw 
Republicans and Democrats together; that we will have confronted the 
issue of comprehensive immigration reform, listened to the voices of 
reason, and passed legislation in regular order and then, as well, that 
we in conclusion find it within ourselves to eliminate the sequester in 
a way that provides funding back to the basic responsibilities of this 
government in rebuilding infrastructure, creating jobs, stopping the 
bleeding of losing jobs because we have kept the sequester long 
overdue; funding our defense; providing for education and the safety 
and security of our seniors and our veterans. Let's get to work.
  I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries) for reminding us 
that we came here to roll up our sleeves and to work for the American 
people.
  I introduced the above legislation H.R. 2585 to save our children's 
lives.


                            summary of bill

  H.R. 2585 will help to stem this epidemic by reauthorizing for 5 
years Juvenile Accountability Block Grant program (JABG) and providing 
funding to state and local governments for the creation of bullying and 
gang prevention programs.
  Legislation authorizes such appropriations as may be necessary, which 
is anticipated to be at least $40 million per year ($200 million total) 
for the 5 year reauthorization period.
  In addition to reauthorizing juvenile justice programs, legislation 
clarifies how to address the occurrences of bullying through 
developmentally appropriate intervention and prevention techniques, 
which center on evidence-based models and best practices that rely on 
schools and communities rather than involvement from law enforcement 
and the justice system.
  Legislation designed to help both the victims and perpetrators of 
bullying. Research studies have shown that approximately 25 percent of 
school bullies will be convicted of a criminal offense in their adult 
years.
  H.R. 2585 also includes provisions for gang prevention programs, 
which will help guide our children towards socially beneficial paths.
  If we want our children to learn, we must be able to maintain a safe 
and healthy school environment.


                       WHY H.R. 2585 IS NECESSARY

  Although some people may dismiss bullying as a normal part of growing 
up, bullying can be detrimental to a child's education and development.
  Each day an estimated 160,000 students in this country refuse to go 
to school because they fear being bullied by their peers, and many more 
attend school in a chronic state of anxiety and depression.
  In addition, six out of ten American youth witness bullying at least 
once a day, and nearly 30 percent--or 5.7 million children--are 
involved in bullying as victims, perpetrators, or both.
  1 in 7 Students in Grades K-12 is either a bully or a victim of 
bullying.
   90% of 4th to 8th Grade Students report being victims of bullying of 
some type.
   56% of students have personally witnessed some type of bullying at 
school.
   71% of students report incidents of bullying as a problem at their 
school.
   87% of youth said shootings are motivated by a desire to ``get back 
at those who have hurt them, and 86% said, ``other kids picking on 
them, making fun of them or bullying them'' causes teenagers to turn to 
lethal violence in the schools.
  Consequences of bullying:
  15% of all school absenteeism is directly related to fears of being 
bullied.
   1 out of every 10 students who drops out of school does so because 
of repeated bullying.
   Suicides linked to bullying are the saddest statistic.
   Behind these statistics are real children and young people who 
suffer and hurt too often in silence. Let me tell you the heart 
breaking story of David Ray Ritcheson.
   David Ray Ritcheson was a victim of adolescent bullying. He was 16 
years of age--when he was bullied, beaten and tortured nearly to death.
  David was assaulted while attending a party in Spring, Texas. He 
spent 3 months in a hospital as a result of his injuries and underwent 
more than 30 surgeries to repair his battered body.
  His courage in the face of such violence was reflected in his 
willingness to come before Congress to tell his story.
  My reaction to his courage and later death by suicide was to sponsor 
House Resolution to honor the life and sacrifice of David Ray 
Ritcheson. The Resolution told his story and expressed the importance 
of passing hate crime legislation; and his story also showed the 
violence of bullying.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas for 
her leadership on a wide variety of issues important to the social and 
economic justice landscape, and, of course, for laying out a very 
significant roadmap, a blueprint for the future in terms of what this 
Congress should confront as we close out this first session of the 
113th Congress and move toward the second session.
  We are pleased that we have also been joined by my neighbor back home 
in Brooklyn, the distinguished gentlewoman from the Ninth Congressional 
District, a woman who is one of the CBC cochairs on the task force 
related to comprehensive immigration reform. She has been a leader on 
that issue, as she has on many others. She is a member of the Small 
Business Committee, as well as the Homeland Security Committee. She 
represents one of the most diverse districts anywhere in this Nation 
and has made us all proud to call her a colleague. I yield now to 
Congresswoman Yvette Clarke.
  Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Jeffries) and the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford) for 
their leadership in anchoring this year's CBC Special Order hour and 
thank them in particular for this evening here in review.
  Mr. Speaker, it has been a long road. From fighting to keep SNAP 
funding to rehashing the Affordable Care Act to advocating for 
immigration reform that is truly diverse and comprehensive, the CBC has 
come a long way.
  As one of the cochairs of the CBC immigration task force, I am proud 
of the work we have done to ensure that everyone, including immigrants 
of the African diaspora and African Americans, were adequately included 
and represented in this conversation.
  It feels like it was just yesterday when we stood here in February 
introducing the CBC's perspective on the urgent need for comprehensive 
immigration reform. That night, we laid the foundation of what was to 
be an uphill battle between politics, policy, and procedure. The CBC, 
along with our Tri-Caucus colleagues, argued that the burden of the 
broken immigration system does not encumber one group of immigrants 
alone. For example, there are approximately 3 million immigrants from 
the African diaspora in the United States, the vast majority of whom 
entered the country with legal documentation, but there are millions 
more from all over the world, including eastern Europe and South Asia.
  As the conversation increased, the CBC immigration task force tried 
to highlight the impact of immigrants of the African diaspora from the 
continent of Africa, the Caribbean region, and South and Central 
America, which has been large in scale. Their contribution has not been 
mentioned in the Main Street stories representing reform. Many did not 
recognize nor understand that the road for many immigrants of the 
diaspora was significantly different than the proverbial stories in the 
media.

[[Page 18012]]

  Many entered our Nation with legal student visas, like my own parents 
did, to pursue careers in medicine, science, education, and other 
professions. Many are proud business owners of law firms, restaurants, 
grocery stores, shipping companies, and hair-braiding venues. There are 
those who have come as asylum seekers fleeing the tumult of war, 
famine, and genocide. Like any other immigrant group, they come to the 
United States to be productive, tax-paying members of our civil 
society, to attain the American Dream.
  Like the other immigrant groups, immigrants of the African diaspora 
are dealing with backlogged immigration processing, families being 
ripped apart, falling out of status because they have aged out of the 
legal immigration process; racial and status discrimination; unfair 
criminal aggravated felony laws that prohibit judicial review; 
deportation processes that violate civil and human rights; an insecure, 
prohibitive student visa program; and limited access to work permits 
and much more.
  Mr. Speaker, it is imperative for us to acknowledge the fact that 
many immigrants arrive on our shores during a time of their lives when 
they are in the most productive years of their lives. Any delay in 
processing these individuals, bringing them to the fore, would deny us 
as a Nation the opportunity to access their talent, their skill, and 
abilities in the prime of their lives.
  Additionally, it was important for us to note that African Americans, 
those descendents of the transatlantic slave trade, whom I fondly call 
``longtime stakeholders'' of this Nation, have been affected by our 
broken immigration system as well.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. One of the things that the CBC has attempted to work 
on, as my distinguished colleague from New York has indicated, is to 
deal with comprehensive immigration reform in a manner that fixes a 
broken system for all involved, and we certainly are thankful for the 
distinguished gentlewoman's work as a member and leader of the CBC task 
force on immigration reform.
  We both proudly represent districts that are incredibly diverse. Back 
at home in the Eighth Congressional District in Brooklyn and parts of 
Queens, I represent African Americans, Caribbean Americans, South 
Asians, Russian-speaking Eastern European Jewish immigrants, Latinos, 
Chinese Americans, the gorgeous mosaic of the American people. What I 
found--and this has been the history and the experience, in fact, in 
New York City--is that immigrants are hardworking, entrepreneurial, 
spiritual, family-oriented, community-centered individuals. America 
would be strengthened, of course, by fixing our broken immigration 
system.
  Let me now yield back to my distinguished colleague from New York.
  Ms. CLARKE. Let me thank the gentleman from New York for saving me. I 
have recovered now and would just like to bring forth a few more 
points.
  Working class Americans of all backgrounds, races, and ethnicities 
are adversely affected with a broken immigration system. As we stated, 
they are dealing with depressed wages because of unscrupulous and 
illegal corporate hiring practices. Urban communities aren't even being 
adequately counted via the census and other surveys, resulting in the 
reduction of adequate government services and Federal resources to meet 
the needs of actual populations in our communities, increasing the 
strain on current public services.
  Urban communities are exposed to more crime as the undocumented are 
more reluctant to report crimes, and African Americans are dealing with 
increased racial and status discrimination as many are subjected to 
interrogation based on citizenship.

                              {time}  2130

  Imagine our delight, Mr. Speaker, when the immigration reform debate 
gained some traction this year with the actions taking place in the 
Senate. There were tangible legislative fixes in the works.
  The CBC quickly expressed our concerns to both the House and the 
Senate leadership over the elimination of the Diversity Visas, used 
largely by African and Eastern European immigrants.
  We voiced our concern over the ability of American children, 
particularly those from underrepresented and underserved areas to be 
successful in STEM fields without the proper education, especially 
since much of the emphasis in the debate relied on increasing 
incentives of migrants in those fields.
  We also expressed the need to address our immigration judicial 
system. The current state is not aligned with our criminal justice 
system, leaving many immigrants forced to experience double jeopardy 
for nonviolent crimes.
  We stood up against racial profiling language that does not include 
religion or national origin and expressed concerns over the switch from 
family- based immigration to an economic-based system.
  Now, as the House looks to different vehicles to consider 
comprehensive immigration reform, I implore the House leadership to 
understand the importance of diversity; that is, racial, ethnic, 
religious, national, and especially economic diversity, the visa equity 
that must be afforded immigrants from around the globe.
  If we eliminate country caps without including other avenues for 
smaller countries, we are jeopardizing the beautiful mosaic that makes 
this country unique and great.
  We must evaluate consideration of the SAFE Act, which is a bad idea 
and a slap in the face to our immigrant history.
  Additionally, we have to have an honest conversation about the 
relationship between legalization and border security. Allowing those 
who are here a pathway to citizenship but creating an obstacle course 
based in fear to obtain the citizenship is not the way to go.
  We will never realize the true potential of this country if anyone in 
our society is held back from realizing their individual dreams. And 
relying heavily on an economic-based immigration system will exclude 
many immigrants, creating yet another stratified immigration system, 
forcing people back into the shadows.
  That is why, as we look at the next session of the 113th Congress, I 
ask my colleagues to take the opportunity to revisit these proposals, 
sans political pressure, sans the haste to get it done, and take a real 
look at how we can improve the lives of all Americans and all those who 
strive with the hope to be an American.
  Mr. Speaker, we must get this right. Our national security is at 
stake. Our moral standing in the world depends upon it. The American 
people, many of whom are first- and second-generation immigrants, have 
demanded it.
  If we turn our backs on those law-abiding contributors to our civil 
society that come to our shores only to embrace the American Dream, to 
labor in the rebuilding of our great Nation, strengthen our economy, 
and to serve honorably in our military, we turn our back on ourselves 
and our future.
  I can definitely say that the CBC Immigration Taskforce looks forward 
to continuing this conversation into the new year, ensuring that any 
comprehensive immigration reform measures mirror the diversity of this 
Nation.
  So I want to thank my colleague, the gentleman from New York, whose 
district is right next to mine in Brooklyn, for yielding time to me 
today.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentlelady from New York for 
her leadership on this issue, for the progress that has already been 
made, and her continued commitment.
  The CBC, as I close, Mr. Speaker, will continue to take its role 
seriously as the conscience of the Congress, a voice for the voiceless, 
and the guardian of the integrity of the democratic process.
  And I am just hopeful, as we move forward, that our friends on the 
other side of the aisle will end the obfuscation, end the obstruction, 
end the obsession with the Affordable Care Act, and we can find common 
ground to advance an agenda for the benefit of the American people.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

[[Page 18013]]



                          ____________________