Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the Black and indigenous soldiers who played a crucial role in winning our Nation's independence.

Soldiers of color made up a quarter of George Washington's forces by the time they marched to victory in Yorktown, but they have been largely erased from the story of our Nation.

At best, the teaching of Revolutionary War history fails to highlight the contributions of Black and indigenous Americans. At worst, it actively whitewashes them.

This Black History Month, I celebrate the passage of my National Liberty Memorial Preservation Act, which President Biden signed into law as part of last year's omnibus funding package.

My bipartisan legislation will establish a memorial to honor the soldiers of color who risked everything for American independence.

By establishing this memorial, we can write these brave soldiers back into the narrative of our American history.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today appalled and disgusted and brokenhearted. Like so many others, I am still struggling to process the sheer inhumanity on display in the murder of Tyre Nichols.

Last week, our Nation watched helplessly as another innocent Black man was beaten to death by men sworn to serve and protect. In the final moments of his life, Tyre Nichols cried out for help as he struggled to understand what he possibly could have done to deserve such a fate.

As a mother, seeing Tyre cry out for his mom deeply pains me. As a Black woman, I am furious at the injustice that Black Americans face every day. As a human being, the vicious murder I have seen leaves me shaken to my core.

Tyre Nichols was a human being with a life as beautiful as any other. He was a photographer. He loved skateboarding. He was a son to a loving mother and a father to a 4-year-old son.

Tyre will never get to see his son grow up, and his son will never get another hug from his father.

I mourn Tyre, and I pray for his loved ones. I mourn Keenan Anderson, who invoked George Floyd's name when he, too, was killed by police this month. I mourn Elijah McClain, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, and every other Black life stolen from us by police.

I have grown weary of my mourning, though, Mr. Speaker, because history has repeated itself once again.

The murder of Tyre Nichols comes 3 years after the murder of Breonna Taylor. It comes 9 years after the murder of Michael Brown. It comes 14 years after the murder of Oscar Grant. It comes 153 years after the murder of Henry Truman in 1870.

Nothing we can do will ever bring back Tyre Nichols, Daunte Wright, Eric Garner, or any Black American killed by a system that did not value their lives. We can, however, demand accountability and sweeping reforms from police departments that have built, maintained, and even encouraged a culture of brutality and even racism.

The time is now to reevaluate and reimagine the role of police in our community. We must stop waiting for justice and start doing our jobs.

As public servants, we have a duty to do right by our communities, even if that means starting the long, difficult process of reforming and restructuring our justice system. It is the duty of the Federal Government to ensure that law enforcement is used to protect communities, not tear them apart.

Last Congress, the House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, but the Senate blocked it from becoming law. That was a disappointment, but it cannot be a defeat.

This Congress, we have a new opportunity to end qualified immunity and protect our communities. However, that opportunity will not seize itself.

House Republicans have spent endless time and resources establishing committees for conspiracy theories but have offered zero solutions to the rising tide of police brutality. I call on all of my colleagues to commit or recommit themselves to fixing the fundamental flaws in the fabric of our justice system. If we fail to do so, our society will forever be one in which police are seen as an occupying force instead of a force for good.

Madam Speaker, I rise today not only for Half Moon Bay and Monterey Park, but for Oakland, Goshen, and San Francisco; for Dallas and for Houston; for Red Springs, High Point, and Durham; for Chicago and Rockford; for Tunica Resorts; for Baton Rouge, Shreveport, and New Orleans; for Fort Pierce, Sanford, Homestead, Ocala, and Miami Gardens; for Phoenix; for St. Louis; for Cleveland and Columbus; for Allentown, Philadelphia; for Minneapolis; for Denver; for Albany, Georgia; for Huntsville; for Enoch; for Baltimore; for Dumfries; and for Washington, D.C.

We are 26 days into the new year, and in those 26 days, there have been 40 mass shootings in our country. That is 40 mass shootings--73 innocent Americans killed. These were mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters who should still be with us today. My heart is broken for every single, solitary one of them.

How much more heartbreak must our Nation endure?

How many more lives must we lose?

How many more times must we watch as another safe space, another sanctuary, another school, or another celebration becomes a site for a shooting?

How many times must I come to the floor and make this plea?

Our moments of silence won't save a single, solitary soul.

We have seen more mass shootings in the first month of 2023 than in any other January on record. The new year should mark new beginnings, new progress, and new hope. Instead, we find ourselves moving backward. In less than a month, this year has become one defined by shock and sorrow.

Every other country in the developed world has managed to rein in gun violence. In 1996, Australia enacted commonsense firearm regulations following a mass shooting, and gun deaths were cut in half. In the U.K., just one school shooting pushed the government to pass lifesaving gun violence prevention measures. New Zealand banned assault weapons almost immediately after the Christchurch massacre.

Where our peer nations choose to act, America chooses to stand by in the face of tragedy after tragedy after tragedy.

A safer America is possible. We can end the gun violence epidemic. We can build a culture of rational, reasonable, and responsible firearm ownership. We can ban the weapons of war used in so many mass shootings. In fact, we have done it in the past.

From 1994 to 2004, the United States banned assault weapons. During that time, gun deaths plummeted, but they shot right back up as soon as the ban was lifted.

We have the resources and the precedent to do that again. What we need is the political will. Ending gun violence is not an issue of can't. It is an issue of won't.

My Republican colleagues won't ban assault weapons, they won't ban large magazines, and they won't pass universal background checks.

The gun violence epidemic is a stain upon the fabric of our Nation, and that stain grows deeper every second that Congress chooses not to pass substantial gun violence prevention legislation.

Last year, we did take a key step in the right direction by passing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. But make no mistake, Madam Speaker. That was the beginning, and we cannot allow it to end there.

I am grateful that my colleague, David Cicilline, plans to reintroduce an assault weapons ban. I, too, am choosing to act. I will soon reintroduce my bill to stop online ammunition sales.

Madam Speaker, I stand here confident that my Democratic colleagues will stand behind this commonsense legislation.

From Sandy Hook to Uvalde, from Monterey Park to Trenton, New Jersey, every mass shooting is a policy choice. Democrats are prepared to choose better, and I demand that my Republican colleagues do the same.

Madam Speaker, I rise because I am appalled that this is how my Republican colleagues have chosen to start this majority.

It appears that actually legislating is too great a challenge for my colleagues, who have no apparent plan to address the real issues facing our country, including the rising tide of violent extremism.

H. Con. Res. 3 condemns violence against anti-abortion organizations. It says nothing about the violence against abortion providers that has gone largely unaddressed for nearly 50 years. Last year, I supported legislation that offered real solutions to rising violence against abortion providers.

Madam Speaker, I would be happy to work with my colleagues on fixing H. Con. Res. 3 to actually acknowledge the rising violence, but I cannot and will not support it in its current form, and I encourage my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today because the Republican Party has once again chosen to stand against civil rights.

Yesterday, Senator Cory Booker brought the CROWN Act to the Senate floor. This bill would ban hair discrimination, including the practice of discriminating against people, Black people, because of the way their hair naturally grows out of their heads. Republicans stopped the bill in its tracks.

The CROWN Act should never ever have been a controversial bill. It simply protects our right to exist as our authentic selves. Apparently, that was just too much for today's Republican Party.

Mr. Speaker, I stand here disappointed but not defeated. I will never stop fighting for all Americans' right to exist as their authentic selves. I pray that my Republican colleagues set petty party politics aside and choose to stand for justice when the next opportunity arises.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate one of the unsung civic heroes of our time.

Last month, I attended a dedication ceremony of Laura Wooten Hall at Princeton University. Wooten Hall houses Princeton's Center for Human Values, and it is only fitting that it was named for a woman who devoted her life to something greater than herself.

For nearly 80 years, Laura Wooten served as a poll worker, ensuring that the people of New Jersey could exercise their sacred right to vote. Her service earned her the honor of being the longest continuously serving poll worker in United States history.

Despite living from the Jim Crow era through present-day attacks on voting rights, Laura Wooten's dedication to our democracy never wavered. May her life of selfless civil service be an inspiration to all of us.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the Black Americans who were assaulted, terrorized, and killed during the Jim Crow era.

Our Nation has a long and troubling history of failing to deliver justice for victims of racially motivated violence. One could draw a direct line from the lynching of Emmett Till in 1955 to the killing of Trayvon Martin just 10 years ago. In neither case were the killers convicted.

Willie James Howard, Lamar Smith, and Reverend George W. Lee are but a few of the countless Black Americans who were killed for the crime of existing while Black in the Jim Crow South. In not one of these cases was a single perpetrator brought to justice.

I am proud of the students from Hightstown, New Jersey, in my district, who took time to write the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act with my friend, Congressman Bobby Rush. I am now calling on this Chamber to pass the Civil Rights Cold Case Investigation Support Act, which will extend authorization of that legislation.

By passing this bipartisan bill, we can begin to heal the wounds of our past and demonstrate that racist violence has no place in America.

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for organizing this very important moment on the floor of the House of Representatives to address what is a critical, urgent issue, and crisis in our country right now.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to draw attention to this public health crisis that our Nation has yet to adequately address. Over the last 13 years, youth mental well-being has plummeted. The Surgeon General's office reported that between 2009 and 2019, the share of high school students reporting persistent sadness or hopelessness increased by 40 percent, while the share of those contemplating suicide increased by 36 percent.

The COVID pandemic has only made this worse. The youth mental health crisis--in many ways, a pandemic of its own--has only worsened in recent years. While the President's COVID response has been significantly more effective than that of his predecessor, we cannot properly address COVID without addressing the mental health consequences of over 2 years of isolation, uncertainty, and historic amounts of death and suffering.

Black and Brown youth are among those hurting the most. In 2019, my Emergency Task force on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health found alarming increases in suicide rates among Black youth, in part caused by racial disparities in access to care. As of last year, that rate of increase is more than twice as high for Black girls and Black boys.

In response to this, I introduced the Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act, which would invest in our entire mental health care system. That means not just funding additional mental health research, but also establishing a stigma-shattering outreach program and building a larger, stronger, more culturally competent mental health care workforce.

To fight America's youth mental health crisis, we must prioritize equity and do everything in our power to eliminate racial and gender- based mental health disparities. This is an important moment in our time in Congress. We have devastation, sadness, and incredibly devastating responses to sadness at a very young age.

Madam Speaker, I did not know that a 5-year-old could comprehend that ending his or her life was an answer to the pain that he or she has been experiencing, but I know that it has happened. As a result of seeing those posts over and over and over and over again on Facebook and other platforms, that

is what motivated me to pull together that emergency task force. It has yielded such tremendous information that we need as a country to know-- to know that we need to invest in all aspects of healthcare as it relates to the disparities that exist with access to mental health care as well as just healthcare in general.

We must do better. We have so much to overcome. We can do better, and I look forward to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in both Houses to work collaboratively to do better for this next generation.

Madam Speaker, I thank the leader of our Special Order hour, the magnificent, exquisite, and always on point the Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee for her work on H.R. 40 and reminding us every day that within that word ``reparations'' is repair and our opportunity to study how we can repair the pain and the injustice that was accorded to our community.

I need to recognize my leader, Joyce Beatty, because under her leadership she has amplified our voice is our power. And on whatever level we decide that we must speak and we must act, Joyce Beatty has reminded us that our voice is our power because the Congressional Black Caucus believes in exercising that power on behalf of communities that have been underrepresented for so very long, whether it is environmental justice, social justice, criminal justice reform, housing, or just whether or not the whole system needs to be examined as it impacted us.

I thank the chair of our caucus, who took us through a journey that reminded me, as I was sitting there, of the good work that we have been able to do. I tell you that I feel like I am standing here in a very sacred space, and I want to speak in the spirit that flows through us that was left by Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan, John Lewis, Elijah Cummings, and Alcee Hastings, and so many more that have gone before us and have opened the doors and pushed through the doors so that we might be here this evening to address you.

So, yes, slavery--supposedly freedom from it--came to us in 1865, and today we commemorate and we celebrate this end of slavery and all the progress that we have made over the last 157 years.

We must also acknowledge, as Chairman Hakeem Jeffries reminded us, the long road ahead toward what would be full equality for Black Americans. Let Juneteenth be not just a celebration or a commemoration, but a rallying cry as we recommit ourselves to the centuries-long struggle for civil rights.

Through historic measures like the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and executive orders on policing and advancing racial equity, the Biden administration, along with this Congress, has taken important steps to address the unique needs of Black communities across the country. The time is now to keep that momentum going.

Our current moment presents an opportunity to dismantle systemic injustices by bringing Black people from the margins to the mainstream of American society. We as a society must stop treating Black people as an afterthought. That means we must take direct action to end the racial discrimination that, contrary to what our colleagues across the aisle might like us to believe, still exists today.

It means ensuring that Black people, especially Black women, are in the rooms where decisions are made. It means passing legislation like the CROWN Act, which would put an end to the insidious discrimination against Black people because of their hair.

In the fight for a more perfect Union, we can, we should, and we must think bigger and bolder. Through policies like those that are outlined in the Black Women Best economic framework--which include everything from guaranteed basic income to sweeping criminal justice reform--we can bring the Black community from peril to prosperity. When we do that, we bring everybody else along with us. Only then will all Americans have the freedom to thrive.

Today, we celebrate this turning point in our Nation's history. Today, we look back on the milestones we have achieved since then. Today, we continue fighting for that more inclusive, that more equitable, that fairer society that really represents the best that America can be.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Rose Linda Korten. Living in Millsboro, DE, formerly of East Brunswick, NJ, Rose Linda Korten passed away on Sunday, May 15, 2022, at her home, surrounded by her loving family. She was 73 years old.

Born in the Bronx, NY, she resided in East Brunswick before settling in Millsboro, DE, 7 years ago. Rose attended Walton High School in The Bronx, NY; received her Bachelor's Degree in Health and Physical Education from Long Island University, and 2 Masters Degrees of Educational Leadership and Supervision from Hunter College, New York,

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in honor and recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month.

Over the last 2 years, we certainly have seen tremendous stress on the mental health and well-being of our loved ones, our communities, and even our elected officials.

Back in 2019, I led a task force that looked at the impact of mental health on Black youth and suicide, and I introduced a piece of legislation that would address the gap in services to those individuals who are underserved.

It is good that this is Mental Health Awareness Month. It is good that we are paying attention to the mental health of all of our citizens, including those who are elected officials.

I am glad to know that we can extend that service even to the members of the Republican Conference who so desperately need mental health addressing. I almost think it is la-dee-da-dee in everybody.

Madam Speaker, I thank Chair Grijalva for bringing my bipartisan, bicameral bill to the floor. And I thank my Republican colleagues for supporting the same.

H.R. 6201, the National Liberty Memorial Preservation Act, would extend authorization of the National Liberty Memorial, a monument to honor the Black and Indigenous soldiers who risked everything in the name of the American experiment.

If not for the sacrifices of Black and Indigenous soldiers, we may not be the independent Nation that we are today. By the time the Continental Army marched to victory in Yorktown, these soldiers made up a quarter of George Washington's forces.

I am willing to bet that many Americans don't know this because, until recently, I certainly didn't. That is because, at best, the teaching of the Revolutionary War fails to highlight the contributions of soldiers of color and, at worst, it actively whitewashes them.

To wipe these soldiers from the story of our independence is to falsify the historical record. In our current moment, where fundamental truths about our history are under attack, we must right this wrong. Black and Indigenous soldiers sacrificed too much to be erased from the narrative of our Nation's war for independence. I authored the National Liberty Memorial Preservation Act on their behalf.

I thank Congresswoman Hinson and Senators Murphy and Grassley for joining me in introducing this legislation. I also thank National Liberty Memorial Fund D.C. for agreeing to build the memorial.

I hope that, in addition to educating the public and honoring soldiers of color, this memorial will illustrate the importance of teaching the complete, honest truth about our history. I hope that it allows Black children, like my granddaughter, to grow up in an America where the trials and tribulations and triumphs of their ancestors are recognized. By telling the full story of our past, we can pave the way for a more inclusive future.

I am very proud to support and urge the passage of this bicameral and bipartisan legislation. And I do pray that my colleagues, Democratic and Republican alike, will vote ``yes'' on the National Liberty Memorial Preservation Act.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and I thank everyone that my colleague, Barbara Lee, acknowledged earlier.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the MORE Act and on behalf of the countless families that have been disrupted and destroyed by our Nation's failed drug policies and the devastating war on drugs.

As a result of the war on drugs, the United States has a higher rate of incarceration than such human rights-abusing governments as Russia, Belarus, and Iran. It also wastes more money than any other country locking up its citizens for personal drug use.

Racial justice and cannabis decriminalization are inextricably intertwined, and the former cannot be achieved without the latter. By decriminalizing cannabis, we can reverse the trend of over- incarceration and get one step closer to dismantling the systemic racism so pervasive in our criminal justice system.

The MORE Act is an important step in rewriting our future, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman who is the chairman of our Judiciary Committee for recognizing me.

I really do wish we could concentrate on other issues as well, and I think that we are. I think that creation of 6.5 million jobs, of unity around the world, of restoring dignity and respect among our people, trying to put our attention onto things as important as Build Back Better and taking care of the economy, recognizes that Joe Biden, this administration, this Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, can chew gum and walk at the same time.

If my colleagues don't think this is worthy of debate, then they should have gone on and done what they did 2 years ago and vote for the bill a couple weeks ago.

But here we are today. Here we are today standing on behalf of those individuals, whether my colleagues on the other side recognize it or not, who are discriminated against as children in school, as adults who are trying to get jobs, as individuals who are trying to get housing, as individuals who simply want access to public accommodations and to be beneficiaries of federally funded programs.

Why are they denied these opportunities? Because there are folks in this society who get to make those decisions who think that because your hair is kinky, it is braided, it is in knots, or it is not straightened blond and light brown, that you somehow are not worthy of access to those issues. That is discrimination.

There is no logical reason that anyone should be discriminated against on any level because of the texture of their hair or the style of their hair.

I understand that my colleagues on the Republican side don't get the vast array of discriminatory practices because they spend so much time trying to perpetuate an all-White society here in the most diverse country in the world.

Nonetheless, this bill is vitally important. It is important to the young girls and the young boys who have to cut their hair in the middle of a wrestling match in front of everyone because some White referee says that your hair is inappropriate to engage in your match. That young man engaged in his match and he won it.

It is inappropriate for our girls to be sent home disciplined or pushed out simply because they have got braids in their hair. And it is doggone sure discriminatory to deny someone employment, housing, or public accommodations because of the way they are wearing their hair.

That is why we are standing here today. It is unfortunate that we have to, but we do.

With that in mind, I thank the chairman of the Judiciary Committee for giving me this opportunity to speak on behalf of a bill that I think is vitally important, that represents movement and understanding in the 21st century, what discrimination can look like and what it can do to people.

I urge all of my colleagues, including those on the Republican side that voted for it a couple weeks ago, to vote for it today.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of our committee for allotting me this time to speak on a bill that I think is very important.

Mr. Speaker, I do rise today to defend the right of Black people to exist as their authentic selves.

Mr. Speaker, 58 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, racial discrimination still runs rampant.

Far too often, Black people, especially Black women and girls, are derided or deemed unprofessional simply because their hair does not conform to White beauty standards.

Our natural hair is as innate a quality of Black people as the presence of melanin in our skin. Discriminating against our hair is no different than discriminating against the color of our skin.

Hair discrimination forces Black people to choose between employment and existing authentically.

Black women are 80 percent more likely to alter their hair to fit in at work. It is no different at school, where Black students are disproportionately suspended for unapproved hairstyles.

Fortunately, with the support of groups like the CROWN Coalition, State legislatures across the country have banned hair discrimination. State-level progress is an important step in the right direction, but it is not enough.

Mr. Speaker, I have reintroduced the CROWN Act to end hair discrimination at the Federal level. My bill would eliminate an undue burden that Black women face every day.

The methods Black women use to manipulate their hair are not only costly and time-consuming but also damaging to their hair. Nobody should have to sacrifice their time, their money, and the health of their hair for the sake of complying with racist standards of professionalism.

Further, the CROWN Act is a necessary step toward protecting Black beauty and culture. Prohibiting hair discrimination is only the beginning. Even if this bill becomes law, we have a long road ahead toward a truly inclusive society.

As Members of Congress, we must pass legislation that promotes diversity over discrimination and inclusivity over intolerance. And through our work with other organizations like the CROWN Coalition and the Screen Actors Guild, we can change the culture and build an America where everyone, from our essential service workers to our most beloved television stars, can live authentically. I thank those groups for doing everything in their power to raise awareness of this important but often ignored racial justice issue.

The CROWN Act is long-overdue civil rights legislation. I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will support it and send it to the President's desk without delay.

No one should be forced to alter their appearance to be accepted. It is time that Congress recognizes that, and I ask for their support.