[Pages H1330-H1333]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1315
                  PROTECTING MEDICAID FOR CALIFORNIANS

  (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. Kiley 
of California was recognized for 30 minutes.)
  Mr. KILEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform folks 
throughout California and the entire country of one of the biggest 
scandals in our State's history, which is that Governor Newsom is 
literally bankrupting Medicaid in our State. He is driving it insolvent 
through a policy that exists nowhere else in the country, in no other 
State, a policy of offering free, comprehensive, universal Medicaid, or 
Medi-Cal as we call it, to the entire population of illegal immigrants 
in our State who meet the income threshold. No other State has done 
this, and in California, it has been an absolute disaster.
  Initially, it was estimated that this unprecedented expansion would 
cost just a few billion dollars. It turns out that it is going to cost 
$9.5 billion just for this year.
  Because of that enormous cost overrun, because of the resulting 
shortfall of some $6 billion, Governor Newsom has just taken out an 
emergency loan from the general fund in order to cover payments. On top 
of that, he has asked the legislature to appropriate even more money, 
billions more.
  Think about what this means over, let's say, the next 10 years. If 
the cost has grown from a few billion dollars to $9.5 billion just in 
this first year, what can we expect year over year going forward? We 
are likely talking about hundreds of billions of dollars of money from 
California taxpayers that will be spent this next decade implementing a 
policy that exists nowhere else in the country to provide comprehensive 
care, comprehensive government-provided healthcare, to those who are in 
our State illegally.
  Here is the worst thing. Not only is this fiscally unsustainable, but 
those are funds that could be going to shoring up Medicaid, Medi-Cal, 
and improving the system, improving access to

[[Page H1331]]

care, and improving the quality of care for our own legal residents.
  If you are a California citizen on Medicaid right now, the kind of 
coverage that you get, the kind of actual delivery of service that you 
get, likely is not that good. Doctors throughout the State simply will 
not take Medicaid patients because the reimbursement rate is so low.
  This policy of Governor Newsom and the supermajority in California is 
a conscious decision to put the entire solvency of our system at risk, 
to diminish access to care for our own residents, and to, in fact, make 
it harder to get appointments because now there is a whole new 
population that is looking to get into the system and doing so in a way 
that has no precedent anywhere else in the country.
  In fact, in many cases, it actually costs the State more money to 
provide Medicaid to a person who is in the State illegally because, 
number one, there is no Federal funding for such enrollees, so the 
State bears almost the entire cost. Even the overall cost, forgetting 
about who is paying for it, can be higher. When you look at, for 
example, the rebates for prescription drugs that are available at the 
Federal level because the Federal Government negotiates in bulk, that 
is not available for this population that is covered by State funds, so 
we are actually paying more than we would for our own citizens.
  Mr. Speaker, this outrageous policy simply cannot continue. I am 
calling on Governor Newsom and the State legislature to reverse it 
immediately. That should be the obvious next step when the system has 
gone insolvent to the extent that the Governor is forced to take out an 
emergency loan.
  Here in Congress, I have introduced legislation that will preserve 
Medicaid benefits in California and across the country for only those 
who are legal residents of our country. I think we also have an 
opportunity to rein in what Governor Newsom is doing through the 
reconciliation process, and I look forward to doing that in order to 
protect Medicaid for Californians.


         Update on California's Failing High-Speed Rail Project

  Mr. KILEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I would like to provide an 
update on the latest unbelievable revelations concerning high-speed 
rail, the high-speed rail disaster in California.
  Yesterday, California's legislative analyst testified before the 
State legislature that the project faces a $7 billion budget gap and 
that the funds must be secured by next June. The legislative analyst's 
spokesperson said: ``There is no specific plan to meet that roughly $7 
billion gap. We also think there is some risk that that gap could 
grow.''
  Indeed, the hearing at which the legislative analyst testified was 
very brief because the California High-Speed Rail Authority submitted 
an incomplete update to those who had organized the hearing. The high-
speed rail authority can't manage to complete anything on time, even 
its own reports to the legislature, let alone a high-speed train from 
Los Angeles to San Francisco or even that very first segment from 
Bakersfield to Merced, which is now projected to miss the 2033 
deadline.
  Listen to the bipartisan pushback that this is getting. Assembly 
Member Steven Bennett, a Democrat from Ventura, said: ``We have no 
plan. We have a good likelihood it is going to get worse, and we have a 
short time to solve the problem.''
  ``The definition of insanity,'' said Democrat Assembly Member Cottie 
Petrie-Norris, ``is doing the same thing over and over again and 
expecting a different outcome.''
  The truly amazing thing is the legislative analyst testified that 
this update that the rail authority provided, even this incomplete 
update, assumes there will still be Federal dollars. They are saying 
there is a $7 billion budget shortfall for just the next few months, 
and that has an unrealistic assumption that goes with it that there is 
going to be further Federal funding.
  I can say this right now: There will not be further Federal funding. 
How do I know that? Because I was at a press conference with 
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy just a few weeks ago in Los 
Angeles, where it was made very clear that this project is a failure. 
In fact, there is now an investigation that has been launched by the 
Department of Transportation to claw back billions of dollars that have 
been granted.

  I have also asked for an investigation by FBI Director Kash Patel to 
figure out how it is exactly that they have already spent $17 billion, 
that the overall cost has grown to in excess of $130 billion, yet no 
track has been laid after 16 years of some kind of work supposedly 
being done.
  Finally, I have introduced legislation to make the high-speed rail 
project ineligible for further Federal funding at any point going 
forward, which, again, the rail authority is entirely reliant on the 
assumption of Federal funding just to get to a point where there is 
only a $7 billion budget gap for just the first next few months.
  The fact of the matter is that this project has failed. It is not 
going to happen. There is absolutely no justification for spending 
another dollar of taxpayer money, especially when our roads continue to 
crumble and be rated among the worst in the world.
  I will be advancing my legislation here, and I am calling on Governor 
Newsom and the legislature to do the right thing and bring an end to 
this failed and embarrassing project once and for all.


          Condemning Classification of Israel as an Adversary

  Mr. KILEY of California. Mr. Speaker, today on the House floor, there 
was an amendment offered that suffered the most overwhelming defeat 
that I have ever seen in the United States Congress, and for good 
reason. It is perhaps the most abhorrent legislative proposal I have 
ever seen in the United States Congress.
  The Representative from Michigan, Representative Tlaib, introduced a 
measure that would classify Israel as an adversary of the United States 
alongside the likes of China, Iran, and North Korea.
  Fortunately, this proposal was swiftly and nearly unanimously 
rejected by the House of Representatives. Look at the vote total. A 
grand total of three people, including the author, voted ``yes.'' Every 
single other Member, Democrat or Republican, over 400 Members, voted 
``no.''
  This sent a very important message regarding what was being suggested 
with this proposal, that one of our most important allies in the entire 
world, Israel, at this time when it faces so many challenges, is 
somehow a country of concern, an adversary of the United States 
comparable to Iran or North Korea, and to single out this one country, 
Israel, of all the countries in the world.
  We have seen across America, and in particular on college campuses, 
deeply disturbing, abhorrent anti-Semitism, which has absolutely no 
place and that we never thought we would ever see anything like it in 
this country. I think when you have proposals in Congress that 
encourage that, that are very much thematically aligned with the pro-
Hamas, anti-Semitic encampments that took over universities in the 
country, it is very important that that is condemned strongly and 
unequivocally. I am very proud that that is exactly what the House of 
Representatives did today.

                              {time}  1330


                     Zero Job Growth in California

  Mr. KILEY of California. Mr. Speaker, the California Center for Jobs 
and the Economy has just released an absolutely stunning report that 
shows how deeply Governor Gavin Newsom has driven our State's economy 
into the ground. Among the findings was that for the month of January, 
job growth in our State was nonexistent.
  The number of net jobs that were added to the California economy was 
exactly zero for the month of January. By comparison, Texas added 
27,900; Florida added 16,500; and even New York added 20,100. 
California added zero. Indeed, California is one of only five States in 
the country that has not recovered the jobs that it lost during the 
COVID shutdowns.
  As things now stand, our unemployment rate is the second highest in 
the country. It is the second highest out of all 50 States. Indeed, 
there are 1 million Californians who are unemployed, and that has been 
true for 13 straight months. What is more, even those jobs that have 
been created in the COVID recovery are entirely government or 
government-dependent jobs.

[[Page H1332]]

  So to quote the spokesperson, or the head, of the California Business 
Roundtable, Rob Lapsley: ``To put it more directly, other than in 
trade, California has not grown jobs during the past 4 years of 
recovery; it has bought them with public funds.''
  We would have zero job growth and zero recovery if it weren't for 
government jobs.
  What is more, beyond that, even when you look at folks who are 
employed, Mr. Speaker, the average number of hours per week is 
shrinking in California as well.
  This is truly stunning, Mr. Speaker, when you consider everything 
that our State has to offer, not only being a place that has a greater 
diversity of natural wonders and attractions and beauty than just about 
any place on Earth, but it also has so many dynamic and thriving 
industries, so many incredible companies and employers. It has such a 
rich history of innovation and of driving the Nation forward.
  Somehow this Governor and the existing legislature have managed to 
turn it into the State that does the absolute worst when it comes to 
jobs of any State in the country.
  So why is that the case?
  It is no mystery, Mr. Speaker. You can just look at misguided policy 
after misguided policy which has served to discourage companies from 
starting, discourage companies from adding jobs, discourage companies 
from staying here, and indeed, has made more people leave this State 
than any other for several consecutive years.
  I am working on legislation in Congress inasmuch as we can use the 
levers we have here at the Federal level to try to bring some sanity 
back to the economic policy environment in California because there are 
areas where Federal and State policy intersect.
  For example, we are getting rid of all of these EV mandates or 
electric train mandates or electric truck mandates or electric 
lawnmower mandates. I will soon be introducing a Congressional Review 
Act resolution to end Gavin Newsom's plan to ban gas-powered cars in 
California.
  Beyond that, there are a number of State policies that everyone knows 
are causing immense harm and yet remain on the books. So if our State's 
leadership has the chance to look at this report and get a little dose 
of reality and has any inclination to actually try to turn things 
around and help folks in our State, here are a few suggestions:
  Repeal AB 5, which has effectively banned independent contracting in 
our State and has put countless freelancers out of work.
  Overturn the Private Attorneys General Act, PAGA, which is the bane 
of many small businesses' existence and accounts for the nonexistence 
of many that have been forced to close because of the harassing 
lawsuits that it leads to.
  Reexamine every mandate that we place on employers, especially those 
that don't exist in any other State, and evaluate the impact they have 
on the incentive to hire.
  Take a cue from President Trump who has said we are going to repeal 
10 regulations for every new regulation that we offer.
  If there is any place where the regulatory thicket can rival or even 
surpass that of the Federal Government, it is the bureaucracy that we 
have in California.
  Speaking of the bureaucracy, find ways to rein in these massive, 
unelected policymaking bodies we have in California such as CARB, the 
California Air Resources Board.
  These are just a few suggestions, but our State has absolutely 
enormous potential that currently is being dramatically underutilized. 
It is truly a sad thing as we see it in every community in this State. 
You see your favorite restaurant or another cherished small business 
that suddenly closes its doors for good, and you see so many of our 
fellow citizens who are lacking the sort of opportunities that a well-
governed State would allow them.
  So I would hope that if anything could be a wake-up call, then this 
latest stunning report with this very round number of zero new jobs 
will serve as that wake-up call that can catalyze and motivate some 
real reform in California.


                             SpaceX Rescue

  Mr. KILEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate 
and thank SpaceX and its Crew Dragon capsule for successfully returning 
the two astronauts, Barry Wilmore and Suni Williams, who had been 
stranded in the International Space Station for 286 days.
  Most Americans are now familiar with the story and with the issues 
that arose with the Boeing Starliner that made them unable to return on 
that vessel and the delays that ensued after that such that these 
astronauts had to overstay their planned trip by many, many, many 
weeks.
  It was just on March 18, a little over 1 week ago, that they finally 
were brought home thanks to SpaceX and splashdown in the Gulf of 
America.
  This was a great moment for our country, certainly a great moment for 
the astronauts and their families, and I think it serves as a reminder 
of how important America's lead is when it comes to the commercial 
space industry.

  We saw just this last year repeated efforts by the Biden 
administration to hold back that progress and to specifically target 
SpaceX.
  Now, it needs to be noted that SpaceX accounts for over 90 percent of 
the total payload brought into orbit in the entire world, and so 
targeting SpaceX is truly weakening our own country given how important 
our global dominance in space is. So this latest demonstration of the 
capacity of this particular company and American ingenuity in general 
to accomplish amazing feats should hopefully serve as a reminder that 
we have now turned a page, that we are now encouraging innovation, and 
that we must never return to the misguided policies and, frankly, 
discriminatory treatment that prevailed during the administration of 
President Biden.
  So I thank SpaceX again and welcome home, a long delayed welcome 
home, and welcome back to Earth to our astronauts.


                  Artificial Intelligence Announcement

  Mr. KILEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I have the honor of chairing 
the subcommittee that has jurisdiction over all of K-12 education, and 
I wanted to let folks know about a very important hearing that we are 
having next Tuesday at 10:15 a.m. eastern time on artificial 
intelligence and its uses in education.
  Now, some folks might hear the topic of that hearing and think about 
things like: Is AI making it easier for students to cheat, or is this 
going to absorb young people even further into digital worlds?
  Those are certainly concerns. However, the focus of our hearing is 
going to be on the upside. It will be on the tremendous potential, the 
boundless opportunities that AI--even as it exists right now, let alone 
what its capabilities are going to be in a matter of weeks, months, and 
years, the unbelievable opportunities to close achievement gaps and 
advance student achievement.
  I firmly believe, if it isn't already true now then it will be true 
in a very short time, that every child in America now has the ability 
to get a richer and more immersive education than any child did just a 
few years ago.
  I was part of an organization when I was a teacher that was aimed at 
closing achievement gaps in America. The different opportunities that 
are afforded to young students depending on the ZIP Code that they live 
in is an ongoing failure of our public education system. There are many 
policy changes that we need to make to address that, such as providing 
for greater choices for students and their families.
  However, the use of artificial intelligence is another incredibly 
powerful tool for closing these achievement gaps. That is because now, 
no matter where you were born, the ZIP Code that you live in, or the 
neighborhood school that is closest to you, Mr. Speaker, you, as a 
young person growing up in America, can access the entirety of human 
knowledge. It can be conveyed and given to you in a way that meets your 
own starting knowledge level, your own ability level, and your own 
strengths and weaknesses in the modality that fits you.
  We are seeing incredible things that are being done already at 
different schools across the country as well as with platforms like the 
Khan Academy where you can have a direct dialogue with a chatbot or, 
for example, a reanimated version of Albert Einstein that

[[Page H1333]]

teaches you physics, or you can have a dialogue with a historical 
figure as you are learning history, or with a literary character as you 
are reading a classic novel.
  In addition, beyond giving the student this novel, immersive 
experience that is uniquely tailored to them, it also liberates 
teachers to focus on those sorts of things that only a caring human 
instructor can do. So we are still in the very early stages, and the 
capabilities of AI systems are growing by the day.
  I think this is going to be a very important moment for us to look at 
what is being done now and what we can do going forward to expand these 
incredible learning opportunities to every child in America.
  So you can tune into our hearing next Tuesday at 10:15 a.m. eastern 
time.


  Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Rotary Club of Grass Valley

  Mr. KILEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I wish to mark and to celebrate 
the centennial anniversary of the Rotary Club of Grass Valley based in 
California's Third Congressional District.
  The Rotary Club of Grass Valley was established in 1925 by 25 local 
business and professional leaders who were inspired by the Rotary 
movement's ideals of service and ethical business practices.
  Club members represented a cross section of the community and 
included businessmen and professionals associated with and directly 
involved with the major regional economic activities of mining and 
timber harvesting.
  The outbreak of World War II had a profound impact on the activities 
of the Rotary Club as many of its members were called to serve in the 
U.S. Armed Forces. Those who remained in Grass Valley continued to 
support the war effort through various initiatives, such as organizing 
blood drives, collecting scrap metal, and helping military families.
  The history of the Rotary Club of Grass Valley is a testament to the 
power of community spirit and collective action.
  Today, the Rotary Club hosts several community events meant to 
support the numerous programs and activities that provide the resources 
needed to promote the quality of life of Grass Valley residents, the 
surrounding region, and communities across the globe.
  For more than 10 decades now, the club has demonstrated an ongoing 
commitment to service, fellowship, and leadership. Their contributions 
are an indelible part of the Grass Valley community and have made a 
lasting impact on our region.
  Therefore, on behalf of California's Third Congressional District and 
the United States House of Representatives, I am pleased to recognize 
the Rotary Club of Grass Valley for their outstanding contributions 
throughout their 100-year history, and I commend them for their ongoing 
and tireless devotion to community service.
  Here is to another great 100 years.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________