The Public Record
Xavier Becerra is an American lawyer and politician currently serving as the Secretary of Health and Human Services, a position he has held since March 2021. He is a member of the Democratic Party and has a long history of public service in California. Prior to his current role, Becerra served as the Attorney General of California from January 2017 to March 2021, where he focused on issues such as consumer protection and healthcare access. He was also a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2017, representing California's 34th congressional district.
I stand before you proudly to congratulate California, the Golden State, on 150 trailblazing and industrious years. It is often said that ``as California goes, so goes the nation,'' for we are a diverse and forward-looking lot. Well, it…
In a letter dated July 24, 2000, the National Council of Senior Citizens described this bill that we are debating today as an irresponsible political gesture to upper-income persons which will have severe consequences for the Social…
What American seniors want is a real plan, a plan that is defined, a plan that is dependable and guaranteed with regard to the benefit for prescription drugs, and a plan that fits within Medicare. Does H.R. 4680 provide any of those…
let me first begin by applauding the gentleman from San Diego, California (Mr. Filner), for his efforts. I know he has done this over many years, trying to fight for the justice of many of the veterans for World War II who fought under the…
Mr. Speaker, for 5 years we have heard the majority talk about changing the Tax Code and giving us something that is better. No one disagrees with that. All of us are here ready and prepared to discuss that. But now, for the last 5 years…
I support the Democratic substitute because I want to provide honest marriage penalty relief for the more than 44 million families in my congressional district. But I also want to protect the Social Security and Medicare benefits that are…
Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that we should be doing something and doing it quickly for our farmers in America, because they are in distress. At times of economic prosperity, we go to some of our agriculture regions in this country, and…
Let us make it clear, violence cannot be tolerated in this country. We must prosecute vigorously anyone who commits violence, including terrorism. We must punish them vigorously as well. But in this case, we are talking about crimes where…
we are very close to the end of this session, and perhaps it is fitting that we have an opportunity to try to assess what has gone on this year. It happens that as the individual who has been given the privilege to serve this Congress as…
The President's conduct in this matter was deeply disappointing to Americans. All of us have traveled down that path. There is no question of that. This House will proceed with an inquiry. That road we have also begun to travel. There is…
Unfortunately, I must disagree with the way he has done this. As the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) said, this is only a sense of Congress. This bill will not have any practical legal affect on our laws and how we conduct our…
I would agree with everyone who says that we need to give the President fast track authority to negotiate free trade agreements. But we need free trade that offers fair treatment for America's workers and offers protection of our…
I, too, will tell the Members that if I have $10 because I work for the government, and I got them because someone is working every day contributing to the social security trust fund for his or her retirement, I am not going to tell them…
Some of the speakers on the other side of the aisle have said that this bill will not void current consent agreements, compliance agreements we have with about 288 different school districts, voluntarily agreed to. You may want to say they…
Mr. Chairman, this is a perfect example of why this legislation is premature. We are trying to craft legislation on the floor of the House. That is why we have committee processes and that is why we take deliberative time and witnesses'…
Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate at this late date in the year when we have not yet had one of the 13 appropriations bills that must be passed in order for this government to function go through the process and when we still have not been…
Mr. Chairman, it is becoming very clear that there is a real fright in this House among some Members if we go out and truly count all of the American people, something we have never been able to do. The 1990 Census, as we know…
in 1991 then Congressman Newt Gingrich, now Speaker Newt Gingrich, said: ``Use statistical sampling to adjust the count from 1990 because my State of Georgia is not going to have everyone counted.'' 1998, the Republicans under the…
passage of House Joint Resolution 120 would not be a message, it would be a hammer. It would be a hammer because it sends the clear message to the people of Vietnam that we are not serious about trying to be constructive and open up our…
Please, Members, do not confuse the term foreign national with what this bill really does, and that is it goes after lawful permanent residents. Foreign nationals are people who may be visiting, may be coming to this country on occasion…
I was reminded of some questions recently that my daughter was asking me and when I had to say no, she kept saying to me why, why, why? This whole debate reminds me of that conversation. Why, why, why? If the majority wants to get rid of…
this rule breaks that delicate compromise that was reached that withdrew savings in food stamp programs, allowed us to provide more monies for agricultural research, more monies for crop insurance, and more monies to provide food for very…
We had a very delicately balanced package that addressed the needs of our farmers in America and addressed the needs of those in America who are hungry. It was a very difficult compromise to make because there is such a need out there in…
Mr. Chairman, the Department of Defense does not support this, the Department of Justice does not support the Traficant amendment, the people who live along the border in Texas and parts of California do not support this amendment. And if…
I fully support the funding increases in this bill for drug interdiction. Unfortunately, at the last moment, provisions were added to this bill which changes character and also made it an anti-worker bill. Why this bill takes a swipe at…
Politicians like Xavier Becerra
