Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, on March 22, 2017, I was not able to cast my votes during the second series. Had I been in attendance, I would have voted:

YES on the Democratic Motion to Recommit on H.R. 1101

NO on H.R. 1101--Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2017

YES on H.R. 1238--Securing our Agriculture and Food Act

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the American Health Care Act.

This week, the Republicans will call for a vote to push 24 million Americans off of their health care and transfer massive healthcare costs on working families across the country.

Today I will take a moment to talk about the impact that TrumpCare will have on my district, the 14th District of Michigan. Under this bill, 70,000 constituents of mine will lose coverage by 2026.

One of the pillars of the existing Affordable Care Act were allowing States like Michigan--who, for the record, has a Republican Governor who worked hard to make sure that we were able to have Medicare expansion so that we could use the Affordable Care Act in Michigan.

One of the pillars of the Affordable Care Act was to expand Medicaid coverage to millions of people. According to the statistics from Healthy Michigan, which is our process for affordable health care in Michigan, over 650,000 Michiganders enrolled and gained access to health coverage.

In Oakland and Wayne Counties, which I represent, there are over 140,000 individuals enrolled in Healthy Michigan, the Affordable Care Act. Under the Republican bill, these same Michiganders will lose the coverage that they depend on for their long-term care.

Approximately 200,000 seniors, disabled individuals, children, and women who receive care through traditional Medicaid will be severely impacted by the Republican health plan. That includes half of all the children in Michigan, including over 100,000 children in my district alone.

Republicans are using the repeal-and-replace legislation once again to target women's health by defunding Planned Parenthood. No matter how many times it has been substantiated, it is a fact, it has been stated, the Republicans do not seem to understand or refuse to accept the fact that Federal dollars do not pay for abortions.

Planned Parenthood provides a variety of preventative care, including contraception and cancer screening for millions of Americans and women in this country.

Instead of allowing Planned Parenthood to continue their important mission of providing women across the country with quality health care, Republicans have decided to jeopardize the health of millions of Americans because of a blatantly partisan witch hunt.

I would like to take a minute to share a letter one of my constituents wrote me about her experience with the Affordable Care Act:

``As a self-employed person, the first time in my life I've been able to have health care in Michigan has been through the Affordable Care Act, and I still only very, very rarely go to the doctor.

``But I'm happy to pay into the system every month because I believe that's what it means to be a good citizen: that a healthy community is a safer community, a happier community, and a more creative community.

``Health care is a very important issue to me. My brother has cystic fibrosis, and it is only through Medicaid expansion that he is still able to receive health care.

``The thought of the Medicaid expansion being phased out and my brother being somehow responsible for paying for tens of thousands of dollars per month for necessary medication destroys me.''

Mr. Speaker, my constituents deserve better. I urge my colleagues to oppose TrumpCare, the American Health Care Act.

I will stand here and say that the Affordable Care Act is not perfect, but if we really do the job that we are sent here to do as Members of Congress, we would sit down together and fix what is wrong with our existing healthcare

program so that every American will be able to continue to stay on their health care, still be able to allow their children to stay on their health care, and still be able to get health care without being penalized for a preexisting condition.

Let us work together to make health care affordable for all Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to illustrate the importance of the U.S.-Canada relationship, one that is based on shared values, shared hopes, and shared dreams. The United States and Canada have established strong partnerships to provide leadership on climate change, clean energy, and the environment.

The United States and Canada share deeply connected economies and enjoy the largest bilateral trade and investment relationship in the United States. We trade an average of $1.3 million in goods and services. Nearly 9 million U.S. jobs depend on trade with Canada. In my State of Michigan, over 250,000 jobs depend on the U.S.-Canada trade and investment, making Canada the number one customer for the State of Michigan.

Our two countries share the common goal of creating jobs and protecting workers. I am proud to call Canada a friend, ally, and partner.

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, on March 10, 2017, I was not able to cast my vote on final passage of H.R. 720. Had I been in attendance, I would have voted NO on H.R. 720--Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2017.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to H.J. Res. 43, yet another partisan attack against women's health care.

For more than four decades, title X has helped some of the most underserved women in our country get access to family planning services that otherwise would not have been received.

Once again, some of my colleagues believe that they have the right to impose their beliefs on a nonpartisan issue. Instead of allowing women to choose family planning services that are right for them, this Chamber is voting to take that choice away. Instead of attacking legitimate title X qualified providers who serve women across our country, our Chamber should be working to ensure that all Americans have the right to quality health care.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to stop this attack on women's health care. I urge my colleagues to defeat this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Representative Marc Veasey from Texas, who has been an amazing advocate for voting rights and has been standing with the people in Texas across this country for American values with the refugee ban.

And I can't say enough about my colleague, my freshman class member, Stacy Plaskett, from the beautiful Virgin Islands. Her commitment to being a voice for people who are often not heard has been one that has been valuable, not only to us here in Congress but for this country.

Mr. Speaker, Black History Month is a time to celebrate our progress while recognizing the challenges that we still face today.

The President, Donald Trump, posed the question to African Americans asking: What do you have to lose?

Our Black history is outlined with the great progress and hard sacrifices endured by our forefathers. Under this administration and under these current circumstances that we are dealing with, yes, Mr. President, we have a lot to lose. We have a lot to lose for every point of progress that we have made in this country. And for every hard fought step forward, we have a lot to lose.

Instead of draining the swamp, this administration is filling it with unqualified and dangerous megadonors. Our basic rights and privileges included in our Constitution are under the risk of being attacked under this administration. Old battles that we fought and celebrate the wins, such as equal rights and quality education and criminal justice, have now begun again anew.

How are they under attack, you would ask? Well, let's go appointment by appointment.

Under DeVos' leadership, our education system is under attack.

African Americans have historically fought for equal access and opportunity in education.

African Americans had to suffer through the Jim Crow era to fight a segregated education system. They were forced to learn under a system that was both separate and unequal.

African Americans have faced and fought against injustice in the education system ever since our emancipation.

And now, in 2017, our Secretary of Education is Betsy DeVos. And frankly, she is not qualified to be the Secretary of Education because she has zero experience in public education, and she is not the right person to lead our public schools. Being a millionaire does not mean you are qualified to direct good policy.

We have real issues in Detroit. Under DeVos' direct involvement in Michigan public schools, we now have a challenge in our city of Detroit with school deserts. Some of you may not have heard about that. But a school desert is where a community does not have a local public school to attend. This means a family's only opportunity to educate their children would be to go to a for-profit charter school that is miles away, and there is no public transportation given for your child to get there, so you are in a school desert.

Our Secretary of Education should be enforcing civil rights equality and making sure that every child is educated in America, and this includes children of color who can't advocate for themselves.

Funneling taxpayer dollars to private religious schools is a step backwards. Resegregation masked under the guise of school of choice is a step backwards.

So let's talk about Secretary Sessions.

Our criminal justice system is under attack.

Civil rights icons that we know and celebrate during Black History Month, like Martin Luther King and our amazing Congressman John Lewis, endured pain and suffering during a peaceful protest and support of voting rights in 1965.

Disproportionate injustices against African Americans and minorities did not end with the civil rights movement.

Today, we fight for equality under the law. This fight continues.

Now, we have Senator Jeff Sessions charged with leading the Justice Department. His record speaks for itself. He was denied for a position as a Federal court judge speaks volumes.

Clearly, there seems to be a certain amount of fear of the truth when it comes from the mouth of Coretta Scott King.

We cannot go backwards. African Americans have worked hard to be a part of the fabric of this country through education, and health care is one of them.

Let's talk about Charles Drew, who, with his research, developed a technique to have blood banks that we can use in transfusions; Daniel Williams, the first person to successfully complete open-heart surgery; and Dr. Patricia Bath, whose invention in cataract lenses transformed eye surgery, and she was the first African-American woman doctor to receive a patent for a medical invention.

Now, our society's most vulnerable stand to lose something that we fought so hard for, and that is ensuring everyone receives health care in America, ACA. Women should not be charged more for insurance than a man. The sick shouldn't be denied insurance because of preexisting conditions. And Republicans instead want to repeal, take away, the ACA without any plan to replace it. We are going backwards.

This month, we celebrate how far we have come. We celebrate the progress of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. We celebrate the heros and sheros who paved the way. We have come too far to go back now.

That is why I am proud to be a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, along with others who have fought for Americans' equality and for the millions of Americans we represent. It is time for us to remember the great progress we have made as a nation. It is time to remember the past injustices so that we never repeat them. The sacrifices of those who came before us must never be forgotten. Their sacrifices must not be in vain.

During this month of remembrance, let us all remember we are not going back. We, the African-American community, we Americans, we are moving forward.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to address the House for 1 minute.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to H.J. Res. 38. This rule is a much-needed update to existing mining regulations. It ensures that communities that reside by mining operations monitor water pollution levels.

I am standing here today to continue to speak up and fight for clean water in

America. I promised that I would stand up and make sure that never again in America another community would be poisoned by the water. I say to you, Mr. Speaker, that miners deserve clean water as well.

This resolution monitors drinking water sources for pollution, such as lead and other toxic substances, and provides that information to the public. Have we learned something from Flint, Mr. Speaker?

This rule will also help protect land and forests by ensuring that companies restore the land and water sources that were impacted by a precious occupation in our country, and that is mining operations.

Let's defeat this resolution that prohibits commonsense rulemaking, protects the environment, and protects the rights of Americans to have access to clean, safe drinking water, while also creating jobs.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the EPS Improvement Act of 2017. Michigan is a success story for clean energy job growth. For many years, the press reported on Detroit's urban decline and the lights literally going out. While this may have been true in the past, Detroit has been making a comeback.

After generations of urban flight, the population of Detroit is rising. Along with that growth has come revitalization. All across town, the lights are coming back on. The LED project cost $185 million and was paid for by the city and the state. The Public Lighting Authority of Detroit, also received support from the Obama Administration with Department of Energy advising local officials on how to brighten up the city.

Investments by the Obama Administration in energy-efficient lighting has reduced costs across the industry, making LEDS feasible for a city like Detroit. Only three years ago, nearly half of the 88,000 streetlights in the city were out of commission.

This major infrastructure project in my city of Detroit, created not only smart urban design to an aging city, but it brought jobs. City officials told me that since 2014, using Federal Department of Transportation funding, Detroit has added buses, hired dozens of drivers and increased ridership by approximately 100,000 a week. Like the streetlights that are now on across the city, buses restore the fabric of the streets and re-establish a semblance of normalcy.

Mr. Speaker, infrastructure projects like the LED project in Detroit and the transportation funding for buses are what we need to get America back to work. These funded projects have a ripple effect on the community and not only rejuvenate it but put people back to work.

I support H.R. 518 and more projects that support clean energy growth.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak against H.R. 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act.

We are here to represent all of our constituents, even the ones we don't agree with. It should be the woman alone who makes the decision, not Republicans, not Democrats, not the Trump administration, no one but the woman and her doctor.

I support choice so every woman in America could make the decision that is right for her, her family, her God, her health, and her reproduction.

Creating access issues and removing coverage does not stop abortions; it drives them underground. H.R. 7 essentially creates a disparity between poor women and rich women.

For women, children, foster youth, for the LGBT community, for the middle class, working class, poor people, people of color, undocumented residents, and people who see health care as a right and not as a privilege for those who can afford it, they should have the right and liberty to make their own health decisions.

Mr. Speaker, as the House considers this legislation, I stand in support of expanding Internet access around the globe. In this fast growing and ever changing world, the gap between those who have and have not will be made even more dramatic for those without internet access. Internet access is a valuable commodity that helps millions of lives, and everyone should have access to it.

In the 21st century, one thing is crystal clear: Access to the internet is critical. 4.2 billion people worldwide don't have access to the internet. This includes children starting school, young women starting businesses, and communities looking for ways to compete in the global market.

Women are particularly impacted and left behind, something that shouldn't go unnoticed by this body. UNICEF reports that nearly 90% of the income women bring in is reinvested into their family, more than double what men reinvest. Women build up their communities, and we must do whatever we can to ensure they have the resources necessary to succeed.

Not only will this bill reach those women who live in the dark without web services, it will promote the rights and values that make America exceptional. The freedoms of expression and assembly are fundamental rights, and the Internet can be a critical medium for promoting democracy. A report by the McKinsey Global Institute put it best when it said ``The Internet has fundamentally empowered the consumer [. . .] It saves the consumer time and gives customers access to products.'' In this great body, I hope we continue to stand for democracy, its values, and support those who wish to stand up for their rights.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 601. As a parent who was very involved in my children's education and served as President of the Southfield Public Schools Board of Education, I firmly believe the importance of promoting education to all regions of the world. Education is a universal human right that should be obtained by every young mind of the world.

Access to basic education is a human right that must be guaranteed to all children. In my role as the Vice Chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Women's Caucus during the 115th Congress, I will work with my colleagues in a bipartisan manner to highlight barriers to basic education, specifically focusing on girls' education in the developing world. Providing girls with an education helps break the cycle of poverty. Educated women are less likely to get married, more likely to have healthy babies, and are more likely to understand the value of education.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation would ensure that aid is prioritized for the most vulnerable populations, particularly those living in conflict zones. We must take the necessary steps to see that these children are provided with the rights to develop their full potential in order to be contributing members of their societies.

The enforcement of this bill will help bridge the gap with some global issues that we still see today with marginalized groups seeking education. Young children, regardless of gender have the right to gain a quality education.

Children with disabilities or illnesses should not be shunned away from trying to learn because they are considered different.

I am grateful that our Chamber has taken this important step to ensure that the United States dedicates our time and resources to helping the future of the world gain an education. I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their continued support of universal education for all.

Mr. Speaker, due to bad weather that did not allow for me to arrive in Washington, DC, in time, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been in attendance, I would have voted ``yes'' on:

H.R. 423--Anti-Spoofing Act of 2017.

H.R. 582--Kari's Law Act of 2017.

I thank the Congresswoman, my colleague, for her leadership.

Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Black Caucus, the conscience of the Congress, stands strong to promote unity and fight against divisive rhetoric.

Trump's inaugural speech included a lot of pledges and promises: pledges of ``allegiance to all Americans,'' promises to the American people, saying, ``I will never let you down.''

He even quoted the Bible, saying: ``. . . how good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity.''

But pledges and promises fall flat when tweets, speeches, and now actions are followed by reckless executive orders, thoughtless nominations for our Nation's leaders, and attacks on the American healthcare system.

The American people were let down when President Trump nominated unqualified and out-of-touch candidates such as Senator Jeff Sessions, Betsy DeVos, and Tom Price.

How can you pledge allegiance to all Americans while threatening to leave so many without options and access to healthcare coverage? This is not unity. It is hypocrisy. We need to focus on facts and not ``alternative facts.''

I have a question: Do we have a replacement for the Affordable Care Act? Is it a fact that a repeal without a replacement will leave over 30 million people uninsured? Yes, that is a fact.

Is it a fact that Betsy DeVos, if confirmed, will be the first Secretary of Education without any prior experience in public schools, including early childhood education and higher education?

Is it a fact that Jeff Sessions has been nominated as the Attorney General but was denied Federal judgeship over accusations of racism?

I support efforts that will bring more jobs to the American people. I fully support efforts to improve our country's transportation and infrastructure. But only time will tell if President Trump will follow through with the promises he has made to the American people on inauguration day. Only time will tell if he will continue to act, speak, and tweet in a manner that builds walls and not bridges.

Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Black Caucus intends to be a voice to create bridges and work toward real solutions to the real challenges that face African Americans, minorities, and the unheard and disenfranchised. We will be watching, and we will be listening. We will continue to fight for equality, liberty, and justice for all.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to take a stand against those who seek to further divide our Nation. We face the greatest chaos not by the acts of outsiders or foreign intruders, but by the division and war with each other. The nomination of Jeff Sessions as our Attorney General threatens our strength as Americans. Over three decades of a career in public service, Jeff Sessions' words and actions lead to one question: Who is included and excluded from the public he chooses to serve?

Jeff Sessions has referred to the Voting Rights Act as a ``piece of intrusive legislation.'' The first Federal prosecutor in the country to bring charges against civil rights activists for voter fraud since the passage of the VRA in 1965, Sessions has called the Shelby v. Holder case, which eliminated the preclearance formula, ``good news . . . for the South.''

Sessions has referred to the NAACP and ACLU civil rights groups saying they have done more harm than good by trying to force civil rights down the throats of the good people of the United States. He has referred to these organizations as un-American and communist inspired.

African Americans and other people of color are disproportionately affected by acts of voter suppression and the criminal justice system. Those, among others, are the key areas in which Sessions has shown deliberate disregard for the justice and equality of all Americans.

This is a pivotal moment in our Nation's history, and we simply cannot treat the American people like a social experiment. History will reflect on this moment in time, and our action and inaction will be accounted for.