Floor Statements

Mr. Chair, I was unable to physically record my vote on the Ogles Amendment for H.R. 8997. Had I been present, I would have voted NO on Roll Call No. 363.

Amendment No. 42 Offered by Mr. Perry

Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus- McCormick and Congressman Jackson for convening this Special Order hour for, indeed, a special woman.

Madam Speaker, I rise to celebrate the life and legacy of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas' 18th District.

Sheila was a legislator, scholar, orator, truth teller, and justice seeker.

From Houston to Boston, from the Nation's Capitol to throughout the African diaspora, Sheila Jackson Lee is a name you should know. If you don't, trust me, you have benefited from her work--recognizing Juneteenth as a national holiday, reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, advocating for police accountability, reparations, and so much more.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee will always be remembered as a force to be reckoned with, who loved her constituents dearly, and represented them with sincerity.

I can see her now in my mind's eye: folders full of notes spilling over, research, question lines, floor statements, multiple bags, and layered clothing. She wore a colorful scarf to beat the chill and show her own unique style with her hair always in a regally braided crown.

With nearly 30 years of service in Congress, she spent every moment working toward progress. In our final text exchange before her transition to ancestor, she said to me, keep working on our priorities. We cannot give up.

So in her memory, alongside my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus, her staff, current and former, her constituents and her family, we will continue the fight for justice.

SJL, I already miss your rich and powerful voice, but most of all, I will miss how you used it for the people. Rest in peace and power.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 336.

Madam Speaker, I rise as vice chair of the Renters Caucus to introduce the Tenant Empowerment Act, alongside Ranking Member Maxine Waters and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.

For decades, tenants across the country, including in my district, the MA-7, have organized and mobilized to demand safe, stable, and affordable housing conditions.

No hot water or heat during the winter, life-threatening black mold creeping up the walls, leaky roofs that let in rain and snow--these are the conditions that tenants are forced to endure with little to no recourse. How devastating and demoralizing.

Our bill, the Tenant Empowerment Act, would change that. It would enable tenants to withhold paying rent if their home fails to meet quality housing standards, allow tenants to be present during building inspections, and extend tenants' rights to organize in federally assisted housing.

This bill will empower renters with the tools they need to ensure that safe, stable, and affordable housing is not only a right but a reality for every person in America.

As the daughter of a tenants' rights organizer, I am proud to put forward this necessary policy. Everyone deserves to turn the key and to have a place that feels safe, a place of belonging and refuge.

On behalf of more than 44 million families living in rental units, Congress must take action.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to physically record my vote on H. Res. 1215. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 233.

Mr. Speaker, before we began this Special Order hour, I approached Congresswoman Hayes to thank her for her leadership in pulling this together. She said: You are welcome, but I am so sorry we have to do this at all.

I am also sorry, as are we all. It is such a shame.

I thank Congresswoman Hayes for her leadership and partnership in our fight to eradicate hunger and for convening us this evening.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in solidarity with the over 50,000 SNAP beneficiaries in Massachusetts' Seventh Congressional District, as well as the 41-plus million across our country.

Parents who choose to go hungry because there isn't enough to feed both themselves and their children, they would rather make that sacrifice than threaten the cognitive development and nutrition that their children need to thrive and, certainly, to support their readiness to learn.

I rise in solidarity with those families who, given the high cost of housing and food, are struggling because incomes are not keeping pace.

Mr. Speaker, food insecurity is on the rise, but it doesn't have to be. Congress should not advance a farm bill that cuts $30 billion in SNAP funding.

Now, to be clear, we are not here due to a deficit of resources for SNAP. We are here due to a deficit of empathy, a deficit of empathy for those who are food insecure, a lack of empathy for our most vulnerable and marginalized neighbors.

This Republican cut to our Nation's largest nutrition program will disproportionately harm our seniors, veterans, children, adults with disabilities, and working families.

In my home State of Massachusetts, this cut will impact one in six residents, over 1 million people, people who depend on SNAP to put healthy food on the table.

That alarming statistic is worse for Black and Latino families who are twice as likely to face food insecurity.

For decades, SNAP has been a critical tool in reducing hunger for low-income people, lifting millions out of poverty, and improving health and well-being.

To make it plain, food is medicine. Food is life. We should not tolerate the suffering of our neighbors as they live in anxiety and fear, wondering where their next meal will come from.

Republicans need to stop playing with people's lives. Hunger is a humanitarian crisis, a moral failing, and a policy choice.

I urge my colleagues to choose compassion and care over cruelty and callousness and support full funding of SNAP.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Tlaib for her leadership in founding the Mamas' Caucus. I appreciate the way in which wherever she sees a gap, she seeks to fill it. I also appreciate what an incredible role model she is and the righteous representation that she provides for her sons. I appreciate the way that she fights for every child as if they are her own.

This time of year, Mr. Speaker, we wax poetic about the contributions of mothers, call their work valued, their love endless, their role invaluable. Mr. Speaker, mothers across America don't want a Hallmark card, they want policy change.

I grew up in a small storefront church on the south side of Chicago, and my grandfather was the pastor there. Even as a pastor, he would often say that he would rather see a sermon than hear one.

Mr. Speaker, the mothers of this country are deserving of policies, policies that see them, center them, and serve them, and they would prefer those over bouquets, verbal or otherwise.

We tell mothers that caregiving is their greatest contribution and then undermine them at every turn. We tell women that motherhood is aspirational and the greatest contribution they will ever make, while for many a safe pregnancy is a privilege and not a right. Then we thrust them into a broken healthcare system that denies their bodily autonomy, criminalizes pregnancy outcomes, and jeopardizes their lives.

We tell mothers that the work of keeping that baby warm, safe, and fed is the highest calling, and then we allow negligence and policy gaps to create a baby formula shortage in the midst of a pandemic as mothers panic to meet a most basic need.

We tell mothers that they must work like they don't have children and parent like they don't work while we fail to pass universal paid leave policy, thrusting mamas and caregivers back into the workplace mere weeks after their babies are born.

We tell mothers that it takes a village, and we are so proud to be a part of theirs, and then we fail to invest in safe, affordable childcare.

We tell mothers that they are their children's first teachers, and they send their little ones out into the world with a hopeful heart, and then a stark reality keeps them up at night--policy gaps that fail to keep that child safe from a gun on the block or in the classroom.

We tell mothers that in the twilight of their lives after they poured into their babies that we will take care of them, and then we gut social programs that would help our elders age in community with dignity and the care that they need.

Mr. Speaker, mothers don't need empty praise. They need policy change. Now, by the grace of God and the sheer will and brilliance and sacrifice of my mother--my shero, Sandy Pressley, may she rest in peace and power--the woman who gave me my roots and wings, there are many lessons that I was afforded by her example. Chief among those lessons was that being a mother was, in her opinion, her greatest achievement and her superpower. However, it was also not her only identity, and because I had a front-row seat early on to her humanity, I saw the many struggles and hardships that she was confronted with on a daily basis. Not for lack of good character, not for a lack of strong work ethic, but because of an absence of policy or policy violence.

Mr. Speaker, as a Nation, we penalize and marginalize the very people who give us life, but yet and still mothers and caregivers persist, persist in doing the work of community and movement building, of mothering, of nurturing, when it has been 101 years too long, and we have yet to even enshrine gender equality in our Constitution. We still have not passed the equal rights amendment, and still we raise our voices, and we rise in the Halls of power, navigating systems not built for us to speak out.

Together we press, day in and day out, for a more just America because being a mom, being a mama, being a mommy is our superpower.

This is not a just nation which supports us as parents, as caregivers. If we want this to be a just nation and one that is more just and fair for the generations we are raising and for the generations to come, we fight for the rights of our children and grandchildren, we move with the clarity and conviction that only caretakers can. Leaving a better world behind is not an abstract concept, it is grounded in the children right in front of us.

Every society owes a debt of gratitude to those who mother, and in their name we press for a world that lives up to their aspirations, a world that keeps their babies safe, a world that keeps all our babies safe.

Mr. Speaker, I would rather see a sermon than hear one.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of our beloved colleague, Donald M. Payne, Jr., of New Jersey's 10th District.

He was born into a legacy of service but forged his own path. He was warm, witty, and a warrior--a happy one, but a warrior. A warrior for transportation justice, for workers' rights, for healthcare, for gun safety, for clean water.

He never wavered in his exuberance for life or for this work. He was a prolific orator, especially on the House floor. I will always remember him smiling, nattily attired, wearing a colorful suit, bow tie, glasses, and sometimes a fedora that I would ask him to loan me.

I will remember him heading to the House floor with purpose to speak on behalf of the people and the community that he loved.

Mr. Speaker, Black men deserve to grow old. I am heartbroken as I consider consecutively and collectively the loss of Elijah, John, Alcee, Donald McEachin, and now our beloved Donald M. Payne, Jr. It breaks my heart that we are losing yet another member of our historic Congressional Black Caucus. He was an exemplary Member of Congress and an even better man.

Job well done, Congressman Payne. Rest in peace, in power. Your legacy will live on. Our deepest condolences to Beatrice, to Donald, to Jack, Yvonne,

all of your family by blood and by bond, including your staff.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to the massacre of the Palestinian people and the urgent need to de-escalate the Middle East.

For months now, after the brutal attack on October 7, the world has watched in horror as the crisis in Gaza has worsened daily. Today, less than 200 days later, nearly 34,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces.

Every day that goes by without a cease-fire is another day that Palestinians are subjected to violence, starvation, death, and destruction.

Every day that we do not de-escalate the region, more lives are put at risk.

Mr. Speaker, I condemn the Iranian military's attack on Israel, and I condemn the Israeli military's attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria.

These escalations are dangerous, and we now find ourselves at a critical inflection point. We can either leverage diplomacy to de- escalate tensions and push for peace, or we can stand idly by as this spirals into a broader regional conflict that will result in more loss of life--Palestinian, Israeli, and American.

We must de-escalate, and facilitating a lasting cease-fire in the region is the only path forward.

Some of my colleagues seem all too willing to rush into an endless war with Iran and continue providing a blank check to the Israeli military.

Right now, Palestinians in Gaza are being starved, bombed, tortured, and executed. Generations of Palestinian families have been wiped out. Over 2 million are displaced from homes that have been razed to the ground. Make no mistake: History will remember this moment as a genocide.

We cannot bomb our way to peace, and the U.S. must stop using our tax dollars to arm the Israeli military with more bombs and bullets. These are the same bombs and bullets that have been used to kill over 14,000 children in Gaza. It is shameful.

It is why we see momentum across the globe in support of a cease- fire. Millions are marching peacefully in the streets. A cease-fire is the mandate, a cease-fire to surge humanitarian aid, a cease-fire to bring all the hostages home, a cease-fire to save lives.

We will never be silent in the face of injustice. We need a cease- fire now.

Honoring the Life and Legacy of Luke Bailey Santos

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Luke Bailey Santos of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Our community is devastated over the loss of Luke. He was a force for good and a bright light in politics and our world. Luke believed deeply in the power of community organizing and could build meaningful relationships with folks from any and every walk of life because he cared deeply.

He knew that our destinies were tied and our humanity connected. He had a heart for storytelling, as well. He represented the best of us, a genuine person who loved his family, his friends, and the pursuit of justice.

Luke never had an agenda, only passion. He was ready to roll up his sleeves and play any role. Our team often described him as a wunderkind and the kid who would be President someday.

Mr. Speaker, I am devastated that Luke's time on this Earth was so short. His 20 years were filled with meaning and contribution and love. He made every day count, and every day, he made our world better. In his name, we will continue the work of building a more just world.

Honoring the Life of a True Community Builder, Paul Parravano

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the passing of a true community builder, the unofficial ``Mayor of MIT,'' Mr. Paul Parravano.

Paul was compelled to work ``so tell me about yourself'' into every single conversation he had, and he meant it, so let me tell you a little bit about him.

Paul Parravano joined MIT's Office of Government and Community Affairs in 1990. He touched countless students, faculty, community leaders, and elected officials in his 33 years of service. He was committed to the full inclusion of disabled people in every aspect of life. He served as a board member of the National Braille Press, just one of his many contributions to the empowerment and upliftment of the broader disability community.

A Braille champion, his advocacy improved access to financial information for the blind across the United States. His contributions earned him the Cambridge NAACP's Lifetime Achievement Award and the Cambridge Community Center's Reverend Nichols Founder's Award, and he was the inaugural recipient of the MIT Staff Award for Distinction in Service--all well deserved.

His legacy was really forged in the intimate moments he shared so freely with any and everyone he met and how generously he shared his hard-fought wisdom.

He showed us how to lead with compassion, and although he was blind, Paul saw people. He saw the infinite possibilities within people and in our world more than any person I have ever known.

Mr. Speaker, to his wife, Martha, and his daughters, Emily and Ellie, I thank them for sharing Paul's light and love with us. We are a better Commonwealth because of him.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate National Community College Month. Each year, community colleges help over 10 million students achieve their dreams of earning a college degree.

I am so proud that the Massachusetts Seventh is home to Bunker Hill Community College and Roxbury Community College. I am grateful for the exemplary work that they do for learners from every walk of life and circumstance. Their impact reaches far beyond the classroom. They deliver critical services to their communities, disrupt generational poverty, and strengthen our workforce.

Further, as minority-serving institutions, the students benefit from an academic ecosystem that is rooted in community and reflective of the community. They understand that education justice includes racial justice.

In Boston and throughout our country, community colleges are central to making higher education accessible for all and Congress must invest in them like the public good that they are.

That is why I was proud to secure Federal funding for Boston's Tuition-Free program to help address our college affordability crisis so students in my district can earn associate degrees and certificates at no cost. This month and every month community colleges are worth the investment.

Mr. Speaker, on March 21, 2024, I missed votes due to an illness. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 99; YES on Roll Call No. 100; and NAY on Roll Call No. 101.

Mr. Speaker, today I missed votes due to an illness. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 102, ``yea'' on rollcall No. 103, and ``nay'' on rollcall No. 104.

Mr. Speaker, today I missed votes due to an illness. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 96, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 97, and ``yes'' on rollcall No. 98.

Mr. Speaker, Walgreens is planning to close yet another pharmacy in the Massachusetts Seventh, this time on Warren Street in Roxbury, a community that is 85 percent Black and Latino.

This closure is a part of a larger trend of abandoning low-income communities like the previous closures in Mattapan and Hyde Park, both in the Massachusetts Seventh.

When a Walgreens leaves a neighborhood, they disrupt the entire community, and they take with them baby formula, diapers, asthma inhalers, lifesaving medications, and, of course, jobs. These closures are not arbitrary, and they are not innocent. They are life-threatening acts of racial and economic discrimination.

That is why I joined with Senator Markey and Senator Warren to demand answers from Walgreens' CEO. Why was there no community input, no adequate notice to customers, and no transition resources to prevent gaps in healthcare?

Shame on you, Walgreens. Having a website with talking points about health equity and underserved communities is not enough. Walgreens is a multibillion-dollar corporation that needs to put their money where their mouth is and stop divesting from Black and Brown communities.

Madam Speaker, I thank Chair Comer and Representative Raskin for advancing this legislation. I also thank my Massachusetts colleagues and our delegation for the unanimous support of this effort.

I rise today to recognize Caroline Chang, a community builder and trailblazer who was a tireless advocate for the Massachusetts Seventh.

Caroline remains one of the greatest public servants that Boston and our Commonwealth has ever seen. She dedicated her life to serving the local Chinatown community and effecting lasting and positive change.

At a young age, Caroline lost her father and began serving as a translator for her mother, while also looking after her two younger brothers and sister.

Her willingness to care for her family extended to all of Boston's Chinatown where community members would often rely on Caroline's assistance when seeking medical care.

At the time, culturally congruent care was not an option for most Asian Americans in Boston. Whenever a neighbor needed to visit the doctor, Caroline would be at their side as a translator, as an advocate, and as a friend.

Her early sense of purpose and community manifested into a love of organizing and movement building that remained with her as she went on to fight in all levels of government against discrimination faced by Asian Americans.

From managing Chinatown's Little City Hall to her history-making tenure in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, she always made sure her home community had a seat at the table.

The Massachusetts Seventh, which I am proud to represent, is a vibrant and diverse district, and I am especially proud to represent this district as a member of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. It is home to nearly 100,000 Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

In a testament to her ability to bring people together, Caroline routinely gathered Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, and other nationalities from the Boston area for dinners and events under the theme of Asian American unity.

She bridged gaps within and across marginalized groups, working in solidarity to form several community-based organizations that continue to serve Chinatown and greater Boston today--the Asian Community Development Corporation, the Asian American Civic Association, and the Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center, to name only a few.

Inspired in part by her early work as a translator, Caroline also helped found the South Cove Community Health Center, the first community health center to provide culturally congruent care to Asian Americans in the city of Boston. Today, it is the largest Asian primary care provider in the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

My bill, H.R. 3728, would designate the post office at 25 Dorchester Avenue, which is walking distance from South Cove, as the Caroline Chang Post Office.

In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, there are currently 617 postal facilitates. Of those renamed, only one has been named for a woman and only five for people of color. To date, not one has been named for an AAPI individual.

Dating back to my time on the Boston City Council, I have underscored the need for us to have institutional representation in our public spaces because who we honor matters.

At a time when the contributions of Black, Brown, AAPI, and other marginalized communities are facing increased threats and erasure, recognizing their contributions by securing their representation is a small but a meaningful step forward.

Caroline often said: There is always more work to do, and I wholeheartedly agree. Today, with this legislation, we recognize the work that she has done and honor her legacy, a legacy that will endure for generations to come.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I take this moment to also thank a dedicated member of my A team, Bayley Connors, on my legislative staff, who worked tirelessly to bring this to fruition today.