Kathy Castor: “I thank my colleague and friend from Florida for yielding the time. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the rule…”

“I thank my colleague and friend from Florida for yielding the time. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the rule and the two very important bills the House of Representatives will consider. The first is H.R. 986 by my colleague, Representative Kuster from New Hampshire, that will work to protect our neighbors who have preexisting health conditions, like cancer or heart disease. Unfortunately, the Trump administration is trying to weaken those protections. They are doing so in the courts and through Congress. So it is very important that the House of Representatives pass into law protections for our neighbors with preexisting conditions. In fact, the name of the bill is ``Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act.'' Passing this bill will help keep healthcare accessible and affordable for all Americans. The second bill is also very important, H.R. 2157. It provides about $17 billion in disaster relief to Americans who need it, who have suffered through horrendous natural disasters. It was October 10, 2018, when Florida took a direct hit from Hurricane Michael. It was one of the most powerful storms to make landfall in the United States. It slammed into the panhandle and caused tremendous damage and destruction. To help meet disaster needs, the House of Representatives, the Democratic-led House, one of the first bills we passed was a disaster relief package on January 16, 2019. It passed by a wide margin with a bipartisan vote.…”