Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of investing in every child's future.

Six years ago, I joined Senator Booker to introduce baby bonds legislation to disrupt the cycle of intergenerational poverty, close the racial wealth gap, and ensure every 18-year-old has the financial opportunity to go to college, buy a home, or start a business.

Now, Republicans are stealing a good idea and twisting it. The so- called MAGA accounts in their reconciliation bill are intentionally designed to help the rich get richer while poor children are left further and further behind.

Their proposal would weaponize the tax code to exacerbate wealth inequality, ignore the expertise of economists, and penalize States and non-profits that try to help low-income families.

In America, a child born into poverty is likely to stay there through their adult lives. That is a policy choice, and a violent one.

Our babies deserve better. Our babies deserve opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject this regressive proposal and support true baby bonds.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to be here to mark National Minority Health Awareness Month and to do so shoulder to shoulder with two of my esteemed colleagues, Mr. Clyburn and Congresswoman McClellan. Thank you both for the strength of your convictions.

Mr. Speaker, today in America the color of your skin and the ZIP code you are born into are critical determinants of health.

I represent Massachusetts' Seventh Congressional District where in a 3-mile radius from Cambridge to Roxbury, the Blackest part of my district, life expectancy drops by 30 years.

Now, some have tired of hearing these sobering statistics, but I will enumerate them time and again until they change. If you are tired of hearing them, imagine how tired people are of living them.

These health disparities persist despite the fact that we in Massachusetts are home to some of the finest hospitals and brightest minds in healthcare worldwide.

In the Congressional Black Caucus, we are daily organizing and legislating towards a different vision: one of true healthcare justice, a vision where Black men can grow old, where birth is safe and sacred, where every baby has clean air to breathe and safe water to drink, where health equity is a given and not an afterthought, where Black pain is believed.

As we stay head down working toward that vision, the status quo is stark. In 2023, the Boston Public Health Commission reported that diabetes mortality for Black women was three times that of White women.

The same report detailed that our Hispanic and Latino neighbors were four times more likely to end up in the emergency room for asthma emergencies compared to White residents and our Black neighbors nine times more likely than our White residents.

The disparities don't end there. They persist for cancer, heart disease, life expectancy, and more.

The work to address these injustices is urgent. It is a matter of life and death.

Meanwhile, we have a Trump White House threatening to gut and defund essential health programs. They are gutting Medicaid and tearing away school lunches. They are coming for Planned Parenthood. They are cutting regulations, poisoning the air we breathe and the water we drink. The cruelty is the point.

I recently returned from rural Louisiana where my colleagues and I went behind the wall at two remote detention facilities. These facilities have a history of unjust and unsafe conditions. Behind the wall, as co-chair of the House's Reproductive Freedom Caucus, I met women who were pregnant, entering the latter months of their pregnancy and being denied routine prenatal care. I spoke to a woman diagnosed with cancer who has pleaded to anyone she can reach to spare her life and to deport her. While that may put her safety at risk, she said at least if she is deported, she may be able to get cancer treatment and fight for her life.

Mr. Speaker, what the other side wants is for us to harp on our differences and to get distracted, but let me say this: A threat to one of us is a threat to all of us. A cage is a cage at a for-profit prison or at a detention center.

Everyone deserves to live free from fear. Policy is not abstract. It is not a dusty document on a shelf. Policy determines who lives. Policy determines who dies. Policy determines who survives. Policy determines who thrives.

These disparate outcomes are the result of policy choices. There is no deficit of resource in this country, only a deficit of empathy. I will tell you this: Every day I will use each tool I have to fight for the lives of my constituents, neighbors, and families across this Nation that I have never met. Lives depend on it. Our greatest wealth as a nation is the health of our people, and Black health matters.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Waters for her leadership, under which we have advocated to create an economy that works for all people, not just Elon Musk and wealthy billionaires.

That is why I oppose this measure to overturn the Consumer Financial Protection--emphasis on ``Protection''--Bureau rule that caps overdraft fees by banks at $5.

The work of CFPB has been cost-saving and life-changing, but this resolution would undo that progress. Whether it is an elder whose Social Security

check was delayed into her direct deposit, likely because of Trump's mass firings, or the young college student who makes the innocent mistake of confusing a savings and checking account, anyone can be affected by unnecessary junk fees.

Let's be honest, it is our most vulnerable who will bear the brunt of the harm. For the single parent who has to pay bills today with money that is coming tomorrow, overdrafting may be their only option. The exorbitant fees, sometimes $35 for every overdraft, would further push them into debt.

It is a shame the Republicans are attacking poor people just to help greedy bank CEOs get richer, the shame and the sham of it all.

I oppose this resolution and encourage everyone to stand with working people who are struggling to make every single dollar stretch.

Mr. Speaker, they are struggling to make every dollar stretch because of the harmful policies advanced by your dictator in chief. Vote ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in vigorous opposition to occupant Trump's hostile attacks, hostile and insecure attacks on Black history. Black history is American history.

Dictators try to shutter museums, censor history, and whitewash the truth, but we know the truth. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that centuries of bondage and enslavement brutalized Black bodies and tore apart Black families, that Black women have been the mothers of movements, that Black folks have endured redlining and pay disparities, and yet, still, we rise.

Black brilliance exists in every corner of this Nation, from the stage to the court to the classroom to the Halls of Congress. I want every single person, certainly every single child who calls this Nation home, to walk into our Smithsonian museums including our beautiful Blacksonian and see our collective history, accurate history on full display.

I want them to see themselves in our struggles and our triumphs. I want them to be inspired by the lyrics of Etta and the speeches of Malcolm, and the leadership of Fannie Lou.

It is by studying our history we learn how to overcome the systems of oppression, the reckless whims of petulant men thirsty for power, and the will of dictators. My Blackness is beautiful, and Black history is American history.

Madam Chair, I rise today to honor Women's History Month. As a practice, I do celebrate Women's History Month every month, but today I take the floor to talk about a living legend, Ms. Alfreda Harris.

Ms. Harris is a champion for everyone who calls Boston home and a mother of movements. She has committed her life to building community and supporting our young people. She is widely known for her dedicated work to the Boston Parks Department, actualizing a vision of beautiful green space, room to play, and fresh air for all of our children.

Ms. Harris was the first Black woman to coach in UMass Boston's history in 1980 when she was hired in that role, becoming UMass Boston's first women's basketball coach. She was also the first female head coach at UMass Boston for any sport. She led her basketball teams at Roxbury Community College and the University of Massachusetts Boston to an outstanding 136-20 career record.

Her tenure on the Boston School Committee is defined by her lasting commitment to strengthening Boston

through decades of transition, grappling with the impact of segregation, and working toward a vision of educational equity for all. When she retired, she did so as the longest serving member of the Boston School Committee.

Madam Speaker, she remains a source of inspiration to many. This Women's History Month, let's give this historymaker her flowers. We love and honor Ms. Harris.

Calling Out Signalgate Chat

Madam Speaker, I rise to call out the recklessness of those in this administration entrusted with our national security. I did not think I would see a day where someone with the highest security clearance is using a phone messaging app to treat matters of national security with such blatant disregard, celebrating with emojis in a group chat as they unlawfully authorize military actions.

This administration continues to make history for all the wrong reasons. I struggle to find a reference point because this is beyond the pale: the disregard for human life and national security.

Let me just make this abundantly clear to the American people. Secure channels of communication do exist to discuss classified military action. They sure as hell are not a Signal group chat. It is imperative that information like this be handled with sensitivity.

Under this administration, the United States foreign policy is a failure. Decades of diplomatic efforts to build good will and keep the American people safe have been upended. We have an unelected billionaire gutting lifesaving programs like USAID's essential work to feed newborns and to give medicine to war zones.

Meanwhile, we have a cast of characters in these roles, having nothing to do with merit. It is simply their fealty and loyalty to Donald Trump. We have a cast of characters ordering military strikes in a group chat with a random journalist in it.

This is nothing to be cavalier about. This is not a drill. It is not a joke. Every person involved should be investigated by Congress. In particular, Pete Hegseth is proving himself to be unqualified to lead the Department of Defense and should never have been confirmed by the Senate.

Madam Speaker, this national security failure is proof that he cannot serve this country's best interests, and I call for Pete Hegseth to resign.

Mr. Chair, I rise on behalf of the Massachusetts Seventh Congressional District.

As the House prepares to vote on a truly horrifying Republican budget resolution, one void of empathy or common sense, I am thinking of the people in my district who stand to be harmed the most: families in Mattapan who receive their healthcare through MassHealth, the Medicaid program for Massachusetts; mothers in Chelsea, who rely on SNAP to feed their babies; disabled veterans in Randolph who receive lifesaving care and benefits through the VA; families in Roxbury who rely on Head Start for childcare.

This Republican majority said they would spend the next 2 years cutting costs for the middle class, but the only thing they are cutting is trillions of dollars from lifesaving programs our communities depend on to make ends meet.

Mr. Chair, this has never been about efficiency. Tell me how it is efficient to make people across this country sicker, hungrier, poorer, and more vulnerable. Tell me how it is efficient to buy more toy rockets for Donald Trump's billionaire friends while parents can't afford groceries. The cruelty is the point. What a callous shame and a sham.

I urge my colleagues to stand with the people. Protect families and reject this shameful budget resolution. In the words of a righteous faith leader whose place of worship Donald Trump recently attended: Have mercy.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to remember Kyre Ambrose, an incredible young man and talent who, in his far-too-short life, touched the lives and hearts of many.

Kyre was a source of joy and love to his family, his community, and the audiences he performed for, where he shared his calling, his true artistic genius, his dancing with all of us. He was strength, beauty, and poetry in motion.

Kyre was a recent graduate of Boston Arts Academy and an incredible contributor to the cultural fabric of the Boston dance community, as well as OrigiNation, the BAA school community, and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, where he was studying and performing.

Those who knew, instructed, learned from, and, most of all, danced with Kyre described him as a remarkable spirit who exuded love and tenderness on the stage and in his relationships.

The loss of his talent, joy, and love is deeply felt by the Mattapan and Boston communities. We mourn the passing of this young man on January 18, and we continue to grieve his absence.

To his beloved mom, Rina; to his father, Kyron; to his sisters, Hope and Ky'Leah; and to his grandparents, family, and friends, thank you for sharing the bright light and gift that Kyre was for so many of us. His memory and legacy will continue to dance in our hearts and minds forever.

Thank you, Kyre. We are honoring you here today on the House floor because I do consider your loss to be a loss for our Nation.

Madam Speaker, good morning and happy Black History Month.

Black history is American history, so I rise today to give a history lesson.

I think, at moments of inflection for our country, history provides a critical contextualizing. In order to go forward, we need to look back, especially when the White House is working overtime, as laid out in their playbook, Project 2025, to ban our history and to dismantle our Department of Education.

Let's start at the beginning.

Why did we establish a Federal Department of Education? In the early days of this Nation, education was left entirely to the States, and schools were run by a patchwork of religious schools and one-room schoolhouses, leaving many children excluded based on their race, gender, or poverty.

Madam Speaker, there is much I disagree with our Founding Fathers on, but they knew that preserving democracy required an educated population, one that could participate in civic issues, understand social and political issues, vote, and resist tyrants.

In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the concept of free public education began to take hold, but not for everyone. Enslavement ruled the day. Black and Native American families faced State-sponsored violence and systemic exclusion from education.

In the 1830s, it was the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a legislator named Horace Mann who established the common school movement, pushing to extend free public education to poor and middle- class children. Yet, Black children across the Nation were still barred from learning and faced severe punishment and abuse if they tried.

By the 1870s, Reconstruction in the South gave way to Jim Crow laws that segregated public spaces, explicitly including our schools.

Additionally, child-labor exploitation was rampant; education for girls lagged far behind; and children with disabilities were far too often institutionalized and not educated at all.

A little more than 100 years later, our Department of Education in its modern-day form was championed by none other than the late, great President James Earl Carter. May he rest in peace and power.

He knew that fully implementing the civil rights legislation of the 1960s and fighting Jim Crow would require a well-resourced Federal role in education. This agency had existed for over a century in many iterations, but Carter explicitly understood that at the core of education was a vision of opportunity and access for every child in America.

He and Congress resourced the Department accordingly, and this Department was tasked with implementing core tenets of the Civil Rights Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Federal funding through the Department of Education became integral to addressing disparities, hiring and training teachers, building accessible school facilities, enforcing civil rights protections, heating and powering those buildings, and, finally, living up to our ideals of education as a pathway to opportunity in America.

Madam Speaker, today, that progress is under attack. The Trump administration's attack on education is a fundamental attack on democracy and on every child who calls this country home.

Let's call it what it is: resegregation and a full-scale attack on civil rights.

Dictating what can be taught is shameful.

Madam Speaker, I stand firmly on the side of our public school babies and our educators and families today and always.

Mr. Speaker, it is another day under a Republican majority and of an antiscience, antifacts healthcare agenda. I don't know which is worse: the cruelty or the ignorance on full display here across the aisle.

I would ask my colleagues if they have ever met or spoken to a woman who had abortion care late in pregnancy? If they had, what they would have heard her share is about the nursery that she lovingly decorated. If they had, what they would have heard her share was about the name that she picked out. If they had, then they would have heard her share about how her world collapsed all around her when learning of her baby's devastating medical diagnosis.

Let me be clear what my colleagues are doing here. The majority is not only putting women's lives at risk, but they want to deny them the chance to hold their baby who will not survive. I don't know what God my colleagues on the other side of the aisle serve. The God I serve is one of love and mercy and would not deny a mother final moments with a dying child or subject her to carrying a lifeless fetus around.

Republicans want to force their way into the exam room during one of the most impossible, dangerous moments in someone's life. When a family learns their baby has a fatal diagnosis and would be born with only a short time to live, some people make the decision to end the pregnancy so they can hold their baby during their final moments.

Mr. Speaker, how cruel it is that Republicans in Congress would deny them that small comfort? In these dire situations, families forego treatment which has no hope of saving their baby's life and instead spend time comforting them and saying good-bye. Physicians who care for families have shared how their patients spend this very limited devastating time with their infants.

Once again, we have ignorant, uninformed men who think they know better than doctors and mothers taking to the House floor to deny us our medical care.

It is another day under a Republican majority. Enough.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the life of Christian Jose Fidalgo Barros, who was called to be with his Lord in Heaven far too soon.

After Christian's first birthday, he was diagnosed with a rare form of high-risk neuroblastoma cancer. John and Tchintcia were unrelenting in their prayers and their efforts, as were his doctors, to extend and to save his life.

Christian's weary body is now at rest. His soul was called home on January 13, 2025, just weeks after his second birthday. Despite his short time here on Earth, Christian left an impression on all blessed to meet him and to bear witness to his faithfulness.

Christian means follower of Christ. I know he knew God. It was the only way he could have summoned the strength and kept a smile every day.

So last weekend, it was no surprise, given the masses and the multitudes he inspired, to see thousands of people show up to support Christian, John, Tchintcia, John Junior, Jeremiah, Casey, and Olivia. They braved the New England winter to share their love and support for the Barros family during this time of unspeakable grief.

The Barros family is our chosen family. To many in the city and our Commonwealth, they have put their love into action in public and in private and in big and small ways in public service. They are loved, and Christian belonged to all of us, which is why I am on the House floor eulogizing him because I believe his loss is one for our Nation. I mourn his loss, but I celebrate his life and his light.

Christian, we thank you for the happy memories you leave behind, and we thank you for inspiring us with your courage, your strength, and your joy.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to call out harm and hypocrisy. This bill, H.R. 28, is couched as a bill that protects children when it does the exact opposite.

Madam Speaker, this bill not only erodes Federal protections for our kids, but it puts the physical and emotional safety of every child in our public schools at risk.

Imagine that you are 8 years old, trying out for the soccer team, and your coach demands that you show them your genitals. That is abuse. That is exploitation. That is egregious, but it is exactly what this Republican bill does. It allows adults--not medical professionals, just random adults--to demand to inspect our child's genitals without parental consent.

As a survivor of a near-decade of childhood sexual abuse and as a bonus mom to a school-age daughter, I am horrified.

To Members of Congress who support this legislation, you are putting the safety of children across this Nation at risk. Why? Because you want to vilify and harm trans kids, children who should have every right to show up in this world and live and thrive like anyone else. You are punching down at the most vulnerable and exacting harm on everyone.

I would ask my colleagues: Have you spoken to any of these children? How about their parents? They pose no threat to you, but you pose a threat to them, denying them their healthcare, isolating them from their friends, creating conditions for bullying and even suicidal ideation.

You are posing a threat to every child who wants to step onto a soccer field or pick up a softball bat in this country.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' and to speak out in strong opposition to this disgusting, predatory bill that does nothing to keep a single child safe.

We Need Clemency

Madam Speaker, for too long, our Nation's criminal legal system has been wrought with systemic injustices and biases and has prioritized cruelty at the expense of rehabilitation and justice. That is why we have a mass incarceration crisis.

Nearly one in two adults in America has had an incarcerated loved one. Today, in the name of all who have felt the injustices of the carceral state, we are standing united to call on President Biden to use his clemency powers to release people from prison and reunite them with their families.

There are mothers like Michelle West, who is incarcerated for the crimes of her abuser; brothers like Charles Ellis, Jr., from my district, the Massachusetts Seventh, who had ineffective assistance of counsel when he committed a crime at the age of 19; and sons like Ismael Lira, who was sentenced to life in prison for a nonviolent cannabis charge.

Madam Speaker, why is anyone still incarcerated for cannabis?

With nearly 1 million people behind bars, more people per capita than any other country, it is time for clemency to put the United States on a path toward ending mass incarceration.

Locked in cages are people who pose no threat to public safety: the elderly, disabled, and chronically ill; those who were wrongly convicted; and people serving time under outdated sentencing laws.

It is the height of hypocrisy to claim they are a risk to public safety when they are the very people at this moment that we are trusting to keep the public safe. Eight hundred incarcerated men are fighting wildfires in California for $5 a day, only to return to a jail cell at night. During the pandemic, these same people were making hand sanitizer.

President Biden has the power to save their lives. That is what this moment demands, and we are grateful for his leadership. We need action. We need compassion. We need clemency.

Celebrating Haitian Independence Day

Madam Speaker, this weekend in my district, the Massachusetts Seventh, community members came together to celebrate Haitian Independence Day. There was much soup joumou, freedom soup, that was consumed.

On January 1, 1804, Haiti became the first free Black republic, declaring independence for all people from colonial rule and enslavement.

This weekend also marks 15 years since a devastating earthquake killed thousands and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes on the island. These anniversaries encapsulate the values of the Haitian people: resistance and resilience.

The Republic of Haiti continues to experience heightened violence and political instability, which is why, as co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus, I continue to advocate for humanitarian aid to our ally, TPS for migrants, strategic trade partnerships for economic prosperity, and an end to deportations to Haiti.

Even with just a few days remaining in the Biden-Harris administration, we must prioritize stability for Haitians on the island and in the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to physically record my vote on suspensions. Had I been present, I would have voted YES on Roll Call No. 505; YES on Roll Call No. 504; YES on Roll Call No. 503; and YES on Roll Call No. 502.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor an activist, an advocate, a legislator, a trailblazer, and now an ancestor, the Honorable State Representative Gloria Fox.

Representative Fox retired as the longest serving woman in the Massachusetts State House, but even before making electoral history, she had already cemented her reputation as one of the fiercest advocates in the city of Boston, and that activism was born from an uncompromising love of community, the pursuit of justice, and her constant presence in her district, from community meetings, to ribbon cuttings, to Sunday brunch after services.

Whenever she was greeted with a, ``Good to see you, Rep,'' she would exclaim, ``Good to be seen.'' She was a truth teller, a justice seeker inspiring order. Although, no one wanted to follow her on the microphone in a speaking program, we would follow her anywhere.

As I reflect on the incredible legacy of Representative Gloria Fox, I keep returning to her ability to make every constituent feel seen-- actually, anyone who ever met her felt seen because her impact far exceeded the geographical bounds of her district.

She had an ability to make everyone feel seen and to see greatness in everyone. From our foster youth to our elders, to people living with HIV/AIDS, to those that are incarcerated, she made everyone feel seen and centered in her policies and in the budgetary investments that she fought for.

May she rest in power. I thank Gloria Fox for making us all feel seen. I know I will certainly miss seeing her.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of my forever shero, Shirley Chisholm.

Long before I joined this chamber, I had a soul-tie to Shirley.

My mother used to read me the words of Shirley Chisholm instead of fairy tales at bedtime, and I often remember her words: If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring your own folding chair.

We often define iconic trailblazers to a single moment in history, but Shirley's contributions go beyond just one speech or achievement.

A visionary and a doer, Shirley Chisholm was a forceful champion and helped advance policies that support our most marginalized communities.

Mr. Speaker let the record reflect that Shirley Chisholm was a legislator in her own right.

Without her, we may not have an effective SNAP program or a multi- racial, intergenerational coalition fighting to codify the ERA.

She paved the way for every Black woman in this legislative body-- myself included.

As the first Black woman to represent the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the House of Representatives, I was honored during my first two terms to occupy the physical office she once held as the first Black woman elected to Congress ever.

Shirley was disruptive. She was brave. Shirley dared to be herself, and Shirley dared to dream.

So it's befitting she was also the first Black woman to make a presidential run, paving the way for our Vice President Kamala Harris to do the same.

She was unbought and unbossed, and she is a reminder to Black girls everywhere that we belong in the halls of power.

Today, we honor one of the founders of the Congressional black Caucus by leading, legislating and taking up space--just like she taught us.

Happy 100th birthday to the Congresswoman, and may she rest in peace and power.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to fulfill a promise, a promise I made to a 17-year-old girl named Sara to share her story.

Sara is a brilliant artist and a loving sister. She was savagely burned and severely injured in an Israeli airstrike, an airstrike that killed her two brothers, Ahmad, 15 years old, and Mohamed, 8 years old.

Sara and her mother are currently in the U.S. seeking medical treatment, treatment she couldn't access for over a month as her family was trapped in Gaza and denied care. No child should ever have to endure this brutality.

Sara's mother spoke about Ahmad and Mohamed with love. They were gentle, sweet boys who lit up the room with joy and loved to ride horses with their sister.

What have we as a Nation done? We are supplying bombs that maim and murder babies. Where is our humanity?

I carry Sara and her family with me always, and I will press for peace in her name.