Speakers comments. When we stand united on the floor of the congress as americans, thats when we send the strongest message overseas to adversaries. I want to thank mr. Engel for his strong work, in working with me to get to a positive place where we can actually get to a solution, to whats been a challenging and very fluid situation. Its always an honor to work with you, sir, on the Foreign Affairs committee, and in these times of crises, we are, i believe, strongest on the world stage when the executive and legislative branch speak in one voice. I know in his testimony before our committee, ambassador jeffries, special envoy to sir ark said i saw firsthand the effects of congressional sanctions when we visited with the turkish negotiating team, that these sanctions have been helpful in getting turks to agree to the ceasefire. I believe the resolution that we passed helps helped get turkey to the ceasefire as well. Finally, i want to thank our partners in the Syrian Democratic forces for their ongoing dedication to countering isis. I want to say to the s. D. F. , from the nations capitol, on the house floor, that the American People are grateful for everything youve done for us, for everything youve worked for and everything youve sacrificed to keep the world safer. So with that, mr. Speaker, i urge all members to support this important legislation and yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas yields back. The chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. Mr. Engel thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield myself as much time as i may consume. For the purpose of closing. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Engel id like to again thank Ranking Member mccaul for his partnership in writing this important bipartisan bill. Its even more than just partnership, its working together on both sides of the aisle to do good for the American People. Thats really what this should all be about, particularly when were talking about Foreign Affairs. So i want to thank mr. Mccaul for working closely with me and for really making this a real collaborative bill. The measure before us represents what the Foreign Affairs committee does best, bipartisan, commonsense legislation that advances american interests and American Values on the global stage. The pact act holds turkey accountable for its bloodshed in syria. It calls on erdogan to immediately stop his campaign of ethnic cleansing, to expel syrian kurds and other minority groups from their homeland, and to start living up to the Democratic Values that we expect from a nato ally. Values that right now are under constant attack in turkey. Its a sad coincidence, mr. Speaker, stood the 96th anniversary of the founding of the republic of turkey. For nearly a century, the turkish people have fought hard to grow and preserve democracy in their country. Erdogan has done such incredible damage to that legacy. I call on all my colleagues to join me and mr. Mccaul in supporting this legislation and sending a strong message that the United States congress will not condone turkeys horrific atrocities against the kurds. Not only will we not condone it, we oppose it and will speak out about it and we will try in every way we can to stop it. Thank you, i yield i urge my colleagues to support this very important measure and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new york yields back. The question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h. R. 4695 as amended. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, 2 3 ng in the affirmative, the mr. Engel on that, i ask for the yeas and nays. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new york is recognized. The yeas and nays are requested. Those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. A sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition . Ms. Lofgren i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h. R. 1623 as amended. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title of the bill. The clerk h. R. 1623, a bill to amend the federal Election Campaign act of 1971 to provide for the treatment of payment for child care and other personal use services as an authorized Campaign Expenditure and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, ms. Lofgren, and the gentleman from illinois, mr. Davis, each will control 20 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. Ms. Lofgren thank you, mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Lofgren i yield myself such time as i may consume. I rise in support of h. R. 1623. This measure is important, the help america run act will amend the federal Election Campaign act with commonsense reforms to help Everyday Americans run for office. Current law does not directly address whether people who choose to run for office can use their Campaign Funds to cover the cost of childcare. This has led several individuals to have to appeal to the federal Election Commission for evaluations on a casebycase basis and creates a burden for candidates with schoolaged children. This bill addresses that barrier and other familyrelated barriers for candidates who have experiences like most Everyday Americans. The help america run act makes running for office easier for working mothers and fathers who need sitters for their small kids. It would support established professionals caring for an aging parent and help cover Childrens Health insurance on the campaign trail. I know it would help moms like katie porter, the sponsor of this bill. She is championing this cause today as the very first single mother of Young Children ever to serve in the u. S. Congress. These americans caring for their kids and parents intimately know the dread of opening those ebb ve lopes full of Prescription Drug bills. They know what its like to weigh the risk of running for office to serve the nation against the risk of losing theyre Childrens Health insurance coverage. Its precisely those Everyday Americans that i want to see join us at the Decision Making table. Those who have firsthand knowledge of what it means to have stable child care, good schools, and secure health care are exactly the people i want making decisions on both sides of this aisle. I want make it make ours country profoundly more rich to have those with a diversity of economic experiences in these chambers. I know that firsthand. As the daughter of a truck driver and cafeteria cook i worked on the night shift at the eastman coe tack plant in palo alto to get ready for college. Those experiences shaped me into the person and member i am today and i believe coming from a family like mine shouldnt disqualify you. In fact, it makes you a better policymaker who understands what her constituents are really facing. The fact is that diversity of experience leads to better policy. In 2019, the New York Times reported that fewer than 5 of representatives cite blue collar or service jobs in their biography. A survey by the center for responsive politics showed the median net worth for politicians was just over 1 million in 2013, 18 times the wealth of a typical american household. One can see how americans feel Congress Might be out of touch. This bill is a step to Building Trust in congress as by and for the people. The bill would help advance Economic Diversity and other types of diversity too. Even with the Record Number of women serving in the 116th congress, only one in four congresspeople are women. This isnt because women dont want to run. The center for american women and politics found that one third of women legislators surveyed had been actively discouraged from running for office, often by political professionals. This type of discouragement, combined with existing prohibitions on using Campaign Funds for domestic needs like childcare, burdenses that still fall disproportionately on american women, particularly disadvantaged working parents. Running for office should not be limited to the wealthy or those who have no familial responsibilities. Thats anathema to the democratic experiment and makes for bad policy. This bill is a simple, costfree, commonsense measure to make americas representative looks more like Everyday Americans we are here to represent. For that reason, im proud to support it and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois. Mr. Davis thank you, mr. Speaker. I too rise in support of h. R. 1623, the help america run act. A bill drafted by my colleague across the aisle, newly elected congresswoman from the great state of california, ms. Katie porter. I want to commend ms. Porter for this important legislation that i believe will allow, as chairperson lofgren said, more people of all sose yo economic strata to be able to run for office. Strong candidates should not be limbed by their circumstances to the point that it prevents them from representing their communities in congress. Representatives of this body should and do come from all backgrounds to allow for equal representation of all who make up the institution and this great nation. I believe this bill will make that happen by allowing a candidate who is not currently a member of congress to pay for specific Necessary Services like childcare and dependent care that will enable a congressional candidate to participate in all campaignconnected activities. This is a decision between the candidates and the donors that give to their campaign. All were asking to do with this piece of legislation is to allow candidates to publicly disclose childcare expenses on their f. E. C. Reports. Everyone is going to know what they paid. Everyone will know what it went for. Thats an issue they can discuss with the people who are funding their campaign. What this bill does not do, let me repeat, mr. Speaker, what this bill does not do is put more money in the pockets of current members of congress. Instead, it allows for an equal opportunity for new representation providing more americans who aspire to represent their communities in congress the chance to do just that. This is not a radical idea. We should absolutely want to give everyone an equal opportunity to run, to be able to serve, if elected, in this Great Institution. Including Single Parents who want to run for federal office but cannot afford the necessary childcare for the Grueling Campaign schedules that everyone in this institution knows exist. Again, i want to thank congresswoman porter for her hard work on this legislation. I look forward to seeing it implemented. I will at this time reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from illinois reserves. The chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. Ms. Lofgren mr. Speaker, im honored to yield three mins to the author of this bill, my colleague from the state of california, the gentlewoman, ms. Porter. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman is recognized. Ms. Porter im a single mom and when i ran for Congress Last year, i spent thousands and thousands of dollars on childcare. Running for federal office requires 50, 60, 70, 8, 090, 100hour work weeks and i worked nearly every single day, including every single weekend and i also worked challenging hours, often starting at 5 30 a. M. And ending with Campaign Events stretching late into the evening. I juggled more than a dozen childcare providers for nearly two years, without whom i would have never made it to congress. I had three children. When i started my campaign, betsy was 6, paul was 9, luke was 11. Leaving them alone was in the an option and bringing them on the campaign trail was impossible or inappropriate. For the past two century, congress has written many, many laws about what women may or may not do. But until this year, womens representation in congress was less than 20 . With the election of the historic class of 2018, we hit 23. 4 . 102 women. And that number is still egregiously low. There are even fewer moms in congress and even fewer moms of young kids, and even fewer single moms of young kids. As in just me. A major barrier to women running for elected office is their inability to afford the amount or type of child care needed in a campaign and thats why i introduced the help america run act, which will explicitly allow candidates for federal office to use Campaign Contributions to pay for childcare as well as other types of dependent care such as elder care. Ithe now, candidates can use Campaign Funds for a whole gamut of expenses, from pizza for exhausted staff to Cyber Security for digital devices. But the law does not make it clear that childcare is among those allowed expenses. Like so many laws, theres an assumption of a female caregiver behind every male elected official. Moms continue to shoulder the majority of child care responsibilities, also struggle to run for congress. Until women are fully and equally present in congress, womens perspectives will continue to be underrepresented. The result is a weaker democracy for the people. Im proud that this bill previously passed the house as part of h. R. 1, the for the people act, and now with the support of my Congressional Colleagues on both sides of the aisle, the house is taking this additional step to support women and candidates with families by passing the help america run act. Access to Child Care Service was a problem i faced, like so many other Single Parents, long before i decided to run for office. Every parent, not just those running for congress, deserves to have access to quality, affordable child care. The help america run act should only be the beginning. Today isnt just about passing legislation to open up the halls of congress for single moms or single dads. Its about creating pathways for every parent and every american, regardless of socioeconomic status, to be able to achieve their goals. We all deserve a congress that reflects the diversity of families and households in our country. This bill will help america run and in the process will help Americas Congress run better. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from california yields back. Ms. Lofgren i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from california reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois. Mr. Davis thank you, mr. Speaker. What an impassioned speech by our colleague. This isnt just a problem for one gender running for congress. Its a problem for all families. Its a problem that i faced when my kids were younger, when i first ran for office a little over 6 1 2 years ago. Its what to do with the Young Children who cant go anywhere on their own at that time and at age 12 with twin boys, i dont necessarily know if i truffed them going somewhere on their own. I dont know if i trusted them at home alone at the same time. Its what do you do to make sure your family gets the supervision and the supervisory opportunities that you need . This is an opportunity for us to show anybody who wants to follow in what our forefathers of this great nation put forth in our constitution, creating the house of representatives, to be able to be a house for the people and by the people. To represent this great United States. This is going to be an opportunity for anyone, no matter what their path is in life, if they have children at home, if theyre a single mom or single dad, if theyre a family with kids, if theyre wondering, how do i take on this challenge, how do i get a chance to serve this great country, how do i get a chance to join us . This is going to be their opportunity to say, im going to go out and spend a lot of time raising money, because many of these campaigns, i can tell you how much mine cost. It cost millions upon millions of dollars. And a lot of times when youre gone, youre raising more money to run because campaigns are too expensive. We understand that. We get that. We agree on that. This is a chance to say, im going to get out there and get on the dance floor and take that chance. Too many people that may want to run for office wont do it ecause theyre afraid to lose. I think everyone has to have the chance to take away any excuse, to be able to step out and put their name on the ballot, to have a chance to do what we do. If i, a son of a high school dropout, a guy who graduated high school, who walked into a Fast Food Restaurant in 1959 and had a dream to own his own one day, if i, who had no family ever in politics or government, can come and stand on this floor and work with colleagues like chairperson lofgren and congresswoman porter, to help put good legislation like this through, anybody in this great country can do it. And its a great opportunity to show the next generation that we care enough abou