Chrissy Houlahan · TranslatePolitics.com

House of Representatives

Honoring Jack Perme

2026-07-23

“A man in my district did good things. He had a disease. He did impressive things despite the disease. He helped people. He died young. That makes me sad. I want to honor him.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of my constituent Jack Perme. I first met Jack several years ago in Westchester, where he was volunteering to help bring clean water to people in need, and that generosity would come to define his life. Jack began experiencing symptoms of spinocerebellar ataxia as a child. This progressive neurodegenerative disease impaired his coordination, his balance, his speech, and his ability to swallow. It ultimately took his life at just 28 years old. As the ataxia progressed, Jack had to give up driving and the many hobbies that he loved, including blacksmithing, woodworking, and 3D modeling. Yet, when Jack discovered that he could ride a recumbent bike, he regained a sense of freedom and independence. He immediately set out to share it. In 2024, Jack founded Moving Forward for Ataxia. He rode thousands of miles, raised more than $55,000, and provided 17 recumbent bikes to people across the country. My heart is with Jack's parents, Monica and David; his stepmother, Leslie; his siblings, Grant and Ricky; and everyone who loved him and was touched by his bravery and his generosity. Jack's message to all of us was very simple: Build connections, be kind, and whatever struggle you face, keep moving forward. That is exactly what his legacy will help others to do.

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House of Representatives

Stop Insider Trading Act

2026-07-22

“I want to ban Members of Congress from trading stocks. This bill does not do that. It is not an honest attempt. It also adds new barriers for Americans to vote by mail. I want a clean bill to ban Member stock trading. I don't want this bill that also makes it harder for people to vote.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, two things can be true at the same time. I can support voter ID requirements, which I do, and I can support banning Members of Congress from trading stocks, which I do, and I am in compliance. I can also oppose this bill because it is not an honest attempt to do either. This bill's stock-trading provisions do not go nearly far enough. In this bill, Members can retain their investments that they already own, preserving the very conflicts of interest that a real ban would eliminate. Instead, also in this bill, Republicans are attaching new barriers for Americans to vote by mail, requiring photocopies of a very narrow set of acceptable IDs, more narrow than those required in the State of Texas. They are so narrow that a very similar bill was vetoed by a Republican Governor in the State of Ohio. They put more burdens upon voters without access to copiers and more strain on election officials. If Republicans really wanted to ban Member stock trading, then bring us a really clean bill, and I will vote for it. In fact, I offered amendments to this bill, and Republicans rejected them all. Additionally, congressional ethics cannot become a Trojan horse for voter suppression. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject this bill.

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House of Representatives

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027

2026-07-22

“I am against this change to the bill. Chaplains help all soldiers of all faiths. They must serve every soldier, even if they have different beliefs. This change would let chaplains turn away soldiers they don't agree with. That is wrong. Commanders could be punished for making chaplains do their duty. This would hurt our military. I want my fellow lawmakers to vote against this change.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Chair, military readiness is not just physical. It is, indeed, mental. It is emotional. It is financial, and it is spiritual. That is why every branch of our Armed Forces maintains a Chaplain Corps. Our chaplains are indispensable. They are counselors, advisers, and trusted members of the units and the families they serve. They strengthen the resilience of our force every single day, but chaplains are also servicemembers themselves. They have assigned duties and responsibilities. Among those responsibilities are two sacred obligations. One is to faithfully practice their own religion and to faithfully protect every servicemembers' right to practice theirs. A chaplain's faith belongs to their religion, but their duty belongs to every servicemember. That is how the Chaplain Corps serves the entire force without ever asking a chaplain to violate the tenets of their own faith. A Catholic priest, a Presbyterian minister, or a Jewish rabbi is not expected to lead a Muslim prayer, but they are expected to ensure their Muslim servicemembers have a place to worship and help them identify a lay leader if one is, in fact, needed. That principle has guided our military for generations because it protects every servicemember and because it respects every faith and even those who have none. This amendment abandons that principle. It doesn't strengthen the religious liberty. It, indeed, narrows it. It transforms a chaplain's duty to care for every single servicemember into permission to turn some of them away. Under this amendment, a commanding officer who expects a chaplain to carry out that longstanding responsibility could face punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. That is, in fact, a profound departure from how our military has always understood religious liberty. The military asks Americans of every faith and those of no faith to serve shoulder to shoulder with one another. Our Chaplain Corps exists to ensure that every one of those servicemembers can freely exercise their beliefs. This amendment weakens that mission. It weakens the trust that holds military units together and ultimately it, therefore, weakens the force itself. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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House of Representatives

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027

2026-07-21

“Our bill spends lots of money on defense. Our military will get a raise. I want our military to have enough doctors and childcare. I want the war with Iran to end. It causes high gas prices. I don't want mean politics in this bill.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Chair, I thank the ranking member, Mr. Smith, for yielding me the time. Mr. Chair, today, I have the opportunity to speak briefly with regards to the fiscal year 2027 NDAA. The bipartisan bill that passed out of committee includes many quality-of-life provisions and priorities for our servicemembers and their families. These issues have an immeasurable impact on our recruitment and our retention efforts as well as on readiness. The bill includes a targeted pay raise in which junior servicemembers would get higher pay increases. These improvements to servicemembers' paychecks should provide welcome relief to military families who are still struggling with ever-increasing gas and food prices caused by the ill-conceived and poorly executed tariffs and the current war with Iran. H.R. 8800 also addresses the growing concerns about medical readiness and access to healthcare by reversing efforts by the Department to limit the scope of services available at military treatment facilities. We need to make sure that military treatment facilities and military health systems can deliver a force that is medically ready to deploy at a moment's notice and, just as importantly, we must be sure that the medical providers themselves have the requisite skills to address whatever injuries might come their way. The bill expands ongoing efforts to improve access to safe and quality childcare by including au pairs in the Child Care in Your Home pilot program and establishing a student internship program to improve recruitment and staffing of military child development centers. It provides a process by which military families executing a permanent change of station will receive timely and relevant relocation assistance and available childcare and food access services in advance of that military duty station move. Finally, the bill requires the Department to issue regulations banning the Department of Defense personnel from insider trading on prediction markets, a necessary and crucial step in safeguarding our national security. We brought this bill to the floor in a bipartisan fashion, and I urge my colleagues to reject poison pill riders that will destabilize this important work and to not insert bipartisan politics over the well- being of our servicemembers. This NDAA, like many previous defense bills, should continue to be bipartisan.

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