Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank the chairman of this committee and the ranking member on the floor, and let me express my appreciation for his…”

“I thank the chairman of this committee and the ranking member on the floor, and let me express my appreciation for his acknowledgment and recognition that we should do something. I know he wants to do something. I am going to try to encourage him to do something to alter his position and to stand with this legislation. I want to take a moment to present tribute and accolades, as should be, though he never asked for such, to our chairman. I cannot remember a day that he did not gather us to meet with the transportation security officers, the American Federation of Government Employees, and others, over a decade maybe, as I chaired the Transportation Security Committee of the Homeland Security Committee, where he has not worked without ceasing, we have not joined him without ceasing, to be able to rectify this injustice. That is what it is. It is a plain and simple injustice. I stand on this floor, in the name of Gerardo Hernandez, from the Los Angeles airport, who died in the line of duty as a TSA officer. We met his family. We mourn with them. We mourn with those who suffer. We mourn with those who lost their lives in the pandemic, front line, really front line, because before this was even diagnosed, there were COVID patients or COVID-infected persons going through airports, and our TSOs had no experience, protection, and they were becoming infected by the dozens, and many died. So breaking news today. This is a breaking news story.…”