the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. march 16, 2021. i hereby appoint the honorable rashida talib to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 4, 2021, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with time equally al low -- allocated between the parties and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip limited to five minutes. but in no event shall debate continue beyond 1:50 p.m. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. joyce, for five minutes. mr. joyce: madam speaker, i rise to address the house and ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. joyce: madam speaker, despite what the biden administration would like the american people to believe, our nation is facing a catastrophe on the southern border. last month alone, u.s. border protection officers encountered more than 100,000 migrants attempting to cross the border illegally. this is a 173% increase from last february. right now the office of refugee resettlement shelters that house accompanied migrant children are region capacity. our border agents are being diverted from their posts to care for record number of teenagers and children who are illegally crossing our border. this escalating crisis is rooted right here in washington, d.c. more than 1,700 miles away from that border. as we witness unprecedented groups of migrants reaching the united states, there is no question that the president's weak border security stands has heightened the so-called challenge. by reversing the trump administration's actions to bolster security on the southern border and halting construction of the border wall , the current administration is sending a clear message to the world that america's border, unfortunately, is wide open. innocent people and cartels and human traffickers who prey upon them pay attention to what we say here in washington. words have consequences. rhetoric has ramifications. what is happening on the southern border is both a humanitarian and a security crisis. it is simply inhumane for politicians to incentivize the dangerous trek across central america to the southern border. those who attempt the journey face treacherous conditions, gang violence, and unthinkable danger. as my friend, republican leader kevin mccarthy, said at the border just yesterday, this is human heartbreak. as the situation worsens, the limited resources on the border are being pulled away from protecting the american people. the biden administration is prioritizing illegal immigrants over the american people. as u.s. customs and border protection leadership shifts to caring for migrants, there are fewer officers focusing on apprehending threats. this is not only a human trafficking crisis, it is also a drug trafficking crisis. the illicit drugs including deadly methamphetamine, cocaine, and fent nil that come across the porous southern border are killing pennsylvanians, in the streets of altoona, johnstown, summerset throughout my district. just this weekend border patrol agents apprehended two individuals attempting to smuggle nearly eight pounds of methamphetamine across the border. by preventing these drugs from reaching american communities, we likely saved lives. what would have happened if these suspects hadn't been caught? clearly we need more and not less. we need more security on our southern border. as our nation continues to combat the covid-19 pandemic, congress cannot afford to stand back and allow the border crisis to even get worse. we need safer, stronger, and more secure communities in pennsylvania and across the country. here's the truth. the border crisis has consequences beyond the border. inaction is not the correct action. border security is national security. thank you. i yield the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair now recognizes the the gentlewoman from new mexico, ms. haaland, for five minutes. ms. haaland: madam speaker, i rise today to deliver my final remarks on the floor of the people's house. i'm humbled to have spent the last two years in this chamber where i proudly served new mexico alongside my colleagues, past and present, in the new mexico delegation. i'm thankful to senators martin hinrich and ben ray lujan in particular for helping to build support for my confirmation and to former senator tom udall for his years of friendship and mentorship. i love new mexico. not only is it my home where i raised my child, went to college, started a small business, and started organizing, it's my ancestral homeland. as the 35th generation new mexican, and not unlike the other families with roots in our state, i have a deep connection to the land, air, and water that sustains our communities. my ancestors settled there because they were drawn to the once mighty rio grande and the sacred places that dot the sandstone mesas and granite mountains. that's why i made the most of my time in congress. i spent every opportunity meeting with families, listening to small business owners, learning about our tech industry, connecting with brave service members and veterans, and working to deliver for the people. when i was a little girl, none of this crossed my mind as a possibility for me. i wasn't one of the students picked out to apply to college. in fact, i didn't apply to college until i was 28. i was constantly struggling to make ends meet and raise my child as a single mom. growing up, native women rarely held federal leadership positions, and now little girls everywhere will know that they can run for congress and win. and that this country holds promise for everyone. in fact, it's the unique experiences and struggles that make good leaders and why i became an organizer in the first place. i believe that it's the fact that i relied on food stamps to feed my family that makes me qualified to advocate for families like mine. it's the fact that i overcame addiction that makes me qualified to help people who are in their own struggles. it's the fact that i know what it's like to be indigenous that makes me qualified to advocate for our country to meet its trust responsibility. the beauty of this chamber is that each member of congress brings their unique experiences to the table and advocates for the causes we know best. with speaker nancy pelosi's brilliant leadership, house natural resources committee chair raul grijalva's wisdom, and house armed services committee chair adam smith's guidance, and all the leadership here in the house i have the opportunity to make a real difference for communities everywhere by addressing climate change, protecting voting rights, fighting for racial, environmental, and economic justice, and providing urgent covid relief for millions of people. i'm also thankful for the collaboration and mentorship of my colleagues across the aisle, including representatives tom cole and the dean of the house, don young, and my colleagues on the house armed services and natural resources committees. we worked in a bipartisan way to address issues, including missing and murd indigenous women, and ensuring our service men and women and military families have the resources that they need. to my colleagues in the tricaucus, thank you for embracing the issues facing native americans and working to address long-standing disparities in our communities. i'm proud that with the support of my colleagues, several of my bills became law. the not invisible act. a pilot program for pregnant service members in the 2021 ndaa. the progress for indian tribes act, provisions for my military housing oversight and service member protection act in the 2020 ndaa. the native american business incubators act, and the veterans affairs tribal advisory committee act. i thought i would have more time here, but we are called to service in different ways. though i am excited to become the first native american cabinet secretary in history, i'm also sad to leave this chamber. as a twice elected member of congress, it has been both a pleasure and privilege to serve alongside you in our quest to improve the lives of the american people. i want each of you to know that i'm grateful for the knowledge you shared with me, the friendship, and the work we accomplished together. and i will miss all of you dearly. i wouldn't be here today without my extraordinary staff in albuquerque and here at the capitol. the natural resources committee staff, and the house armed services committee staff. they all put in very long hours on behalf of our state and our country. my legislative accomplishments are also their accomplishments. additionally, thanks to all of the staff who work right here on the floor whose dedication and experience keep our congress running, i'm so grateful to all of you. and to new mexico, thank you. thank you to the activists, the supporters, families, and communities that make our state an incredible place to call home. madam chair, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair now recognizes the gentleman from florida, mr. rutherford, for five minutes. mr. ruth err ford: thank you -- mr. rutherford: thank you, mad yad chair. i rise today to recognize jim schmidt for being named teacher of the year. mr. schmidt received this honor for his work teaching global perspectives and research at manned run high school. searching as a teacher for 28 years, he has dedicated his career to im-- to improving both students' learning and the methods teachers use to educate their students. during the covid-19 pandemic mr. schmidt has demonstrated his leadership ability by creating a discussion forum for teachers to share strategies, ensuring that teachers and students are prepared to learn in an in class or online environment. on behalf of the fourth congressional district of florida, i thank mr. schmidt for his dedication to educating the students of northeast florida and for his commitment to the success of his students and pearce alike. -- peers alike. madam speaker, i rise today to congratulate miss alli persil for being named teacher of the year in st. john's county. she received this honor for her work in teaching biology and agriculture at creek side high school. as a teacher for more than 15 years she worked tirelessly to help bring exciting educational opportunities in stem to her students and to encourage them to engage their curiosity. the philosophies and guise of her work is that all students should have limited opportunities to make connections in their opportunities through exploration and discovery. on behalf of the fourth congressional district of florida, i thank her for her dedication to educating the students of northeast florida and for her commitment to the success of her students and peers alike. madam speaker, i rise today to congratulation miss kristen khronen for being named teacher of the year in nassau county. she received this honor for her work teaching fourth grade math, science, and social studies at wildlife elementary school. she's been teaching -- she's been a teacher for 17 years and is submitted to guiding her students as they -- she creates a hands on work environment for her students to succeed, develops a love for knowledge, and helps them apply what they have learned to everyday life. on behalf of the fourth congressional district of florida, i thank her for her dedication to educating the students of northeast florida and for her commitment to the success of her students and peers alike. with that, madam chair, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from illinois, for five minutes -- ms. underwood from illinois for five mi minutes. ms. underwood: thank you, madam speaker. i rise to call on my colleagues in the senate to swiftly pass h.r. 8, the bipartisan background checks act, and h.r. 1446, the enhanced background checks act. these bills are bipartisan, commonsense solutions to our nation's gun violence crisis. together they accomplish what the vast majority of americans want, to keep guns out of the wrong hands. i was proud to co-sponsor both bills and vote for them when they passed the house last week. now it's time for the senate to take action. . the gun violence archive recorded more than 40,000 deaths caused by gun violence including over 1,300 children. and yet, despite the fact that gun violence continues to rise and that 90% of americans, including 80% of gun owners support universal background checks, republicans in congress have spent years blocking bipartisan legislation to close our biggest loopholes and keep our communities safe. gun violence is preventable, and, yet, it's such a tragically routine occurrence in this country that every community has a story. mine is no exception. i recently joined the aurora historical society in illinois to pay tribute to the five people murdered and the seven heroic first responders who were injured two years ago during a shooting at the henry pratt company. the mayor of aurora said the activist shooting, quote, we as a society cannot these horrific acts to become commonplace, end quote. and yet, absurdly, we've already reached a point where this unspeakable tragedy in illinois is not even america's lethal mass shooting in a town named aurora. so i call on my colleagues in the senate to take action with us so that our children can someday live in a country in which gun vie lens is no longer -- violence is no longer commonplace. as a nurse, i'm thrilled that we directed funding toward research on gun violence. this type of research is critical for evidence-based policymaking and i will keep fighting to make sure that funding continues. but studying the problem is just the first step in our work to solve it. it's already past time to make simple changes that we already know work. background checks are a simple, effective way to keep guns out of wrong hands. a 1995 connecticut law requiring background checks for firearm purchases was associated with a 40% decline in gun homicides and a 15% drop in gun suicides. meanwhile, while missouri repealed a similar law in 2007, gun homicides jumped by 23% while firearm suicides rose by 16%. homicides and suicides by other means stayed flat in both states. only gun violence changed. i wish all our public health crises had such a clear, straightforward solution. h.r. 8 would require a lifesaving background check for every gun sale while h.r. 1446 would give the f.b.i. more time to complete those checks before a single sale goes through. these bills would not add any new restrictions on who can buy a gun or what kind of gun they can have. rather, it would make it easier to enforce our existing gun laws and to stop sales to people who are prohibited from owning one. i'm not waiting the next murder in the next church in the next charleston or the next angry employee to murder his ex-co-workers at the henry pratt. and i won't wait for the next aurora, colorado, or the next pulse nightclub or the next parkland or the next tree of life or the next sandy hook and i'm not going to wait for more women to be murdered by their abusers or by her children to be lost by gun violence. i am done waiting. my constituents are done waiting. enough is enough. americans deserve to feel safe in their schools, in their houses of worship, in their movie theaters, in their workplaces, and in their homes. we can no longer live in a country where any building can so easily become a battlefield. my colleagues and i in the house voted last week for a safer future for our children, and now i call on my colleagues in the senate to save lives and send h.r. 8 and h.r. 1446 to the president's desk. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in >> this afternoon they'll debate an extension to the paycheck protection program age legislative awarding three congressional gold medals to members of the united states capitol police. they are also set to work today on immigration legislation for certain undocumented immigrants brought to the u.s. as children. they'll take up the violence against women act, those two measures will be voted on later this week. follow live house coverage here on c-span. >> wednesday morning, homeland security secretary meyer kiss testifies to a house committee for the first time since being confirmed. he'll discuss the agency's mission. watch live at 9:30 eastern on c-span3, online at c-span.org or listen on the free c-span radio app. we are always very hy to welcome back bobby scott. he is the chairman of the house education and labor committee.