Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today to deliver my farewell address, but first, I would like to give some time to my colleagues to deliver some remarks. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Bowman). Mr. Speaker, I say…
Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today to deliver my farewell address, but first, I would like to give some time to my colleagues to deliver some remarks.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Bowman).
Mr. Speaker, I say to Congressman Bowman that I do believe his mother is very, very proud looking down on him today right here. She is very, very proud of him. We hope he takes that as he walks out of this Chamber and starts on his new journey. If my child was a Congressman and accomplished the things that he has accomplished, oh, how proud I would be.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Ramirez).
Mr. Speaker, Congresswoman Ramirez came into Congress like a whirlwind. She has brought something that I feel so many of us needed and were missing. We appreciate her, and I thank her for coming in and being who she is and bringing Chicago into this space in a different way.
Mr. Speaker, I will offer my farewell address before the House.
Mr. Speaker, St. Louis and I rise just as we have risen so many times before over these last 4 historic years.
Together, we came into this work with a simple mission: to transform Missouri's First District by taking care of the people.
On day one, we vowed to do the most for St. Louis, starting with those who had the greatest need. We were clear-eyed of what was in front of us, ahead of us, and behind us. We stayed focus. We stayed committed.
St. Louis and I came to Congress after unseating a 52-year political family dynasty. I ran for this seat twice to win it.
Today, I stand before you as the first Black woman and first nurse to represent Missouri in Congress, the first woman to represent Missouri's First Congressional District, and the first activist from the movement to save Black lives to serve in Congress.
From the day that I was sworn in, I have brought you, my community, and my own lived experiences with me into every vote, every committee hearing, and every floor speech. St. Louis and I. I am proud to be the people I represent.
I am the young girl who grew up in a working-class household, where my father was a union meatcutter and my mother was a computer analyst. I am the teenager who had my first abortion at the age of 18 after being sexually assaulted at the age of 17. I am the young woman in her early 20s who endured an abusive relationship that nearly ended my life. I am the mother who endured pregnancy and childbirth complications, who encountered biased medical care that was dismissive of my pain. I am the formerly single mother to two beautiful children, Zion and Angel, who will always be my greatest accomplishment. I am the nurse and pastor who cared for others throughout our community. I am the asthmatic adult who understands the challenges of being uninsured. I am the activist from the front lines of Ferguson, the Ferguson uprising movement, who in 2014 was out on the streets for over 400 days protesting police violence after the killing of Michael Brown.
My life experiences are different from many of my colleagues here on Capitol Hill, but outside these walls, my experiences are all too familiar.
In Missouri and across the country, people are living multifaceted lives, and they endure the decisions we do and don't make in this Chamber each and every day. Like me, one in four people of reproductive age have had an abortion before the age of 45 in the United States. Like I was, over 580,000 people in the U.S. experience homelessness on any given night, and in Missouri nearly 6,000 people are living without stable homes, almost a quarter of them unsheltered. Like I have been, nearly 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men in the U.S. have been raped at some point in their lives, and in Missouri 1 in 3 women and 1 in 7 men have experienced sexual violence. Just like I have endured, approximately 41 percent of women and 26 percent of men across our country have reported that they have experienced a form of domestic violence by an intimate partner during their lifetime. In Missouri, our State has the third highest rate of domestic violence in the U.S.
St. Louis sent me to Congress because I reflect the struggles so many people in our community endure. Throughout my tenure in the people's House, I have turned my pain into purpose. I have testified before the House Oversight Committee, sharing my abortion story for the first time. I know that there are others out there, like me, who never shared or may never share their truth with their family members or their friends, but are living through this reality, horrified.
It has led me to fight and put my body on the line to protect medication abortion, to protect sexual and reproductive health, to stop the Comstock Act, to secure abortion justice, to finally finalize the equal rights amendment, which we are pushing President Biden to do in the next 39 days. On this point, I am so proud to be one of two Black women to ever sponsor legislation to ratify the ERA in its 101 years' long history, to have cofounded and co-chaired the first-ever Congressional Caucus for the equal rights amendment. Black women have always been integral to the fight for equal rights and so often relegated to its footnotes. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and I have forever changed that.
My life experiences have shaped and informed this work. I have been violated. I have been shot at, raped, and assaulted by people I have known and people I have loved. I deeply understand the statistic that a woman is five times more likely to be murdered when her abuser has access to a gun because I am one of those women who have come close to joining that statistic. It is why I pushed so hard for the inclusion of ending the dating partner loophole in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act because I know safer communities doesn't just mean safer streets. It means safer relationships, too.
I have been beaten, brutalized, and assaulted as a Ferguson front lines activist. I have grieved with my community for Mike Brown, Kajieme Powell, VonDerrit Myers, Anthony Lamar Smith, and so many others; so, so many others. I know that police brutality is a preventable crisis and that it is affecting Black and Brown communities disproportionately. It is what our movement to save Black lives is born out of. It is why I partnered with that same movement to author the People's Response Act, to end police brutality, to end all police violence, to transform community safety, to treat public safety as the public health issue that it is.
I am one of just over 180 Black Representatives to ever serve in this institution, where over 1,700 Members of Congress who enslaved Black people have held office, and as the Congresswoman representing the very district where Dred Scott was denied citizenship because he was Black. I have seen how the legacy of enslavement, persists in the policies that govern our lives today, from housing and healthcare to education and economic inequality, to mass incarceration and police brutality. It is why I introduced the Reparations Now Resolution, laying out a historic framework for how our government can begin its moral and legal obligation to provide reparations to the descendants of chattel slavery in America because it isn't enough just to acknowledge the past. We must work to reckon with its consequences and act to repair its harms.
I ran for this seat to deliver for St. Louis, for the people. Over the past 4 years, we have delivered over $2 billion
in Federal investments for our communities, resources that will empower our district and create lasting change for generations. This includes over $41 million which has gone toward community projects geared toward homelessness prevention, public health, youth engagement, environmental justice, and economic revitalization projects across St. Louis. We have helped to guide thousands of our constituents through Federal case work, and we established community programs such as Congress in Your Neighborhood and Congress in Your Classroom.
I have refused to settle for crumbs handed to our communities. I have sat and listened to SEIU caregivers and so many other union workers and leaders. I have been in community with environmental organizers pushing for climate action. I have mourned with grieving families demanding an end to gun violence. I have been with the mom who couldn't afford childcare or who struggled to feed her family.
When the President asked us to fight for his economic agenda, his full economic agenda, I fought, we fought, those sitting behind me, we fought for his full economic agenda. If not for a few corporate Democrats, the Build Back Better Act would be the law of the land now. We would have stopped talking about rising inflation and instead delivered on universal pre-K and affordable childcare, a permanent monthly tax credit, paid leave, free school meals, investments in our caregivers, historic funding to build new affordable housing and rehabilitate crumbling housing stock, expanded Medicare benefits, taxes on billionaire corporations and ultra wealthy so they can finally pay their fair share and, lastly, removing every lead pipe poisoning our communities.
We may have lost that fight, but there must be a reckoning. The November election has shown that we were right to fight. We were right to fight as hard as we fought, to put everything we had for Build Back Better. This party must do better.
I have been unhoused. I know the trauma of that policy violence, of being forced out on the street, of not knowing if my two babies would survive the night in our car because of freezing temperatures. I know that. It is why I introduced the first of its kind legislation called the Unhoused Bill of Rights, which makes clear the basic human rights and dignity of our unhoused neighbors. It provides the roadmap for ending homelessness by 2027. Congress can do that. We can guarantee safe, affordable, and stable housing for all people, and we must.
I still remember also, which is what we just heard from Congresswoman Ramirez, the day in August 2021 when we were on the brink of the expiration of the Federal eviction moratorium; and with a bill waiting to be passed on the House floor, Congress actually gaveled out to head to the comforts of their own homes for the next 6 weeks. Knowing the indignity of being evicted myself, I could not leave, and I did not leave, and I have friends who stayed or who showed up and came back. The squad showed up.
For months prior, we had pushed the Biden administration and CDC to prevent a lapse in the pandemic-era Federal ban on evictions. I knew that so many lives in St. Louis and nationwide were at risk, so I did what I do. I led from my life experience and stayed put, right on the Capitol steps. For four nights and five days, through cold rain and summer heat, we pushed for our government to act. My team and I negotiated with the House and Senate leadership, with the White House, Biden administration officials, including HHS and Treasury, and worked in tandem with the Congressional Black Caucus and Progressive Caucus to keep people housed. The White House heeded our call, reinstating the eviction moratorium and keeping 11 million people housed. However, it shouldn't take such drastic action from lawmakers to act. The risk of harming a single person, when you have the power not to, should be enough. Again, as my time here comes to a close, I ask my colleagues here to do better.
The decisions we make here within these Halls do not exist in a vacuum. They ripple outward, touching the lives of millions. They impact the unhoused veteran searching for safety, the survivor waiting to be heard and believed, the child admitted to the emergency room because they are asthmatic and can't breathe. We must honor the humanity and circumstance of those we serve because being in Congress is a privilege.
Don't waste it and don't settle. Don't say: Well, we tried. Don't abuse the power we have been afforded to make a difference in people's lives. The people are depending on you to show up for them and their need. You have the power to change the world, so don't sit on that power. Use it to do good deeds and to save and transform lives. We are the United States of America. We are the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world, so we can't act like the court jester. Do better. If you are not willing to do the hard work to shirk the corporate donors in service of everyday people, then how can you call yourself a Representative?
I understand this, and it is why I was one of the first Members of Congress, along with those sitting here with me today, to call for a cease-fire, and why I am the lead sponsor of the historic cease-fire now resolution. It is why I kept calling for a cease-fire even after the White House called us repugnant and disgraceful only to turn around and later adopt the same policy without an apology, without even so much as a phone call. It is why I will keep standing up for Palestinian liberation and against genocide, infanticide, femicide, and androcide. It is why I will fight for peace and against endless war, for our collective humanity and against our collective demise, even when my persistence bought--and, yes, I said bought--my successor the seat with a whole lot of Republican money.
For me, when I came into office, I vowed to be the same person I was then as I am today, to lead with a heart that knows no borders. My love and my fight have always been for all the people.
When I was first elected, I toured John Lewis' office. I stood in the space where courage once sat, and I vowed to honor his legacy. I know many of us in this body have done the same.
Let's be honest, too many of us recite his words without following his example. Too many of us who should be allies remain silent in the face of injustice.
Many of us, especially my Democratic colleagues, tout that we are the party for human rights, the party for justice, that we fight loud and proud for all people no matter their race, background, sexual orientation, faith, or ethnicity.
Yet, when it comes to Palestinian liberation, so many have chosen silence--silence in the face of bombed hospitals and schools, displaced families, starvation and illness, entire bloodlines wiped out, and the cries of mothers and children; silence in the face of apartheid; silence in the face of ethnic cleansing; silence in the face of oppression and racial subjugation that mirrors the systems of Jim Crow, systemic racism, and inequality that we fight against here in America. Silence.
Maybe for some it is because it is easy or because the politics are-- what do we hear? Too complicated. Those are excuses. Those are copouts to doing the right thing, and as Members of Congress, they are hindrances to doing our job.
In the words of Dr. King: ``The time is always right to do right,'' so I will keep leading with consistent love and consistent respect for all people, no matter their background, the color of their skin, or where they were born.
I will fight for every person's right to live, to love, and to thrive. I will keep standing up for a free Palestine, for a free Haiti, for a free Congo, for a free Sudan, for a free St. Louis, for a free America, for a free democracy.
I will always fight for the people in our country and world who have the greatest need; for those who are incarcerated, unhoused, unemployed, uninsured, food insecure, struggling to make ends meet; for our children and for our elders; for victims and survivors of violence; for those persecuted and villainized; for every person who has been historically excluded, marginalized, silenced, or cast aside by entrenched systems of violent oppression, repression, white supremacy, and systemic injustice.
If you think it is this consistency or this radical love that is a weakness, a mistake, or the reason why I won't be
here next year, think again. My radical and unconditional love for humanity is not a weakness; it is my superpower. The only reason why I will not be here next year is because I didn't bend my morals to special interests.
They tried to silence me, but it didn't work. They thought I would crack under the pressure, but they underestimated me. They tried to buy me, but you can't buy someone who refuses to be bought. No one can buy my silence. No one can pay me to be silent so their people can then go drop bombs on other people. I made a decision to be change, not chained.
I am reminded of a Scripture in Mark 8:36: For what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
My colleagues, I share the words of Dr. King, who said: ``In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.''
Colleagues, special interests would have you believe that fighting for those who others deem unworthy--you know, justice--comes at a cost that you can't afford, that it isn't worth putting your reputation and livelihood on the line, that sometimes backing down or staying quiet is smart politics, that keeping the status quo is better than challenging it.
Well, my Christian colleagues should be familiar with this verse: ``You are the salt of the Earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing.''
If we are not bringing something to the situation to transform it for the better, if we are not being about the change, if we are not the reason why people are helped, if we can't season the problem and make it flavorful, if we can't bring that flavor to making that change that the people need where we leave a positive mark, then we have no purpose here in this work.
My words are not for condemnation but reconciliation--let me be clear--a reminder to love thy neighbor as myself. If you would not bomb yourself, we should not be bombing our neighbors. Let that word ``love'' be about your action. Reflect on your own actions or your inaction. Reckon with your own self, and then walk anew in this moment.
There are people in this country and around the world who need your voice, who need you to stand up and speak out, who need you to be who you say you are, but for all people, not just some of the people. Don't let them down. Never before have we seen such vital collective action on Palestine, or support for the cause of an arms embargo on Israel, and never before have we seen such brazen efforts by AIPAC and its affiliates to try to shut out our voices.
They wouldn't be coming for us if we weren't powerful. We won't back down. We won't go backward. We will keep fighting for equal rights, dignity, security, justice, and self-determination for all people. We understand what the word ``all'' means.
We will keep fighting to end the disastrous Citizens United to get dark money out of politics and for the representation that everyday people need, not billionaires and billionaire corporations.
Now, every elected official knows that the work we do, we don't do it alone. There are so many people who uplift us, support us, sustain us, who prop us up, and hold us down in this work. I will take the time to thank some of them now.
I thank my chairmen and their staff, Ranking Members Raskin and Nadler and former Chairwoman Maloney. I thank them for believing in me and welcoming my perspective. Carolyn's mentorship on the ERA has helped me arrive at the point where I am today. Jamie's work has inspired me, and his mentorship has meant the world to me.
I thank Democratic House leadership and their staff. I thank them for their support.
I thank every person who calls the Capitol their workplace, every single person who works in this place to keep it going.
I thank our OG Congresswoman Barbara Lee for being a quintessential auntie, mentor, leader, and friend, for always having my back and showing that even if you have to stand alone, never compromise your values.
I thank CPC and CBC Chairs Pramila Jayapal, Joyce Beatty, and Steven Horsford for leading our caucuses with foresight and openness, and to their staff, including but not limited to Vincent Evans and Michael Darner.
I thank the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee for her friendship, mentorship, and commitment to securing justice for Black communities, particularly in the form of reparations. I will forever honor her memory.
I thank Senator Bernie Sanders for his leadership and unwavering consistency. If we can say anything, we can say consistency. I thank him for being a movement builder and an inspiration.
I thank Senator Elizabeth Warren for being a model for delivering for communities, for stepping out and embracing issues that help everyday people, and for embracing me during our action on the eviction moratorium.
I thank Senator Markey for being a steadfast partner in the work for environmental justice and protecting frontline communities. I am deeply appreciative that our first bicameral bill together made it into law to help prioritize resources to communities like St. Louis.
I am so grateful and so honored to have the greatest group of friends within these walls who are anything but silent: Rashida, Ayanna, Delia, Ilhan, Jamaal, Summer, Alex, and so many others. Our squad was never small and never silent.
We have changed the course of history. Each of you have made history and made a difference in your own right, and you have made a difference in my life. I am going to speak for Brother Jamaal: He has made a difference in here.
I thank them for their friendship. I thank them for their partnership, their solidarity. I thank them for how they lead and how they taught me. I thank them for bringing all of themselves to Congress. I thank them for how they helped communities from Detroit to Minneapolis to Pittsburgh to Boston to the Bronx to Chicago to Puerto Rico to Central America to Somalia to Haiti to Palestine, and everywhere in between. I ask that they hold up our sister Rashida over these next 2 years in our absence.
To my brother Jamaal, we came into Congress together in 2020. I am so proud to have served with him, served in such a time as this one. He is authentically him. He represented his district and his country with heart and with courage, and we are family. If nothing else, we will always be connected for our time right here in Congress together, our impact on our world, and for the experiences that we have endured together this cycle and the last. I thank him for not ever backing down in our work in protecting humanity, no matter the stakes.
I thank my remarkable staff: Amelia Letson, Caleb Ammon-Hahn, Christopher Key, Claire Shackleford, Isabella Siegel, Jessica Grandberry, Jacqueline Greco, Joi Benton, Karla Santillan, Kate Salamido, Kimberly Bryant, Marina Chafa, Rachell Nord Roseau, and Lynese Wallace, and all of our interns and all of our fellows, to Abbas Alawieh, Danielle Spradley, Stephanie Herndon, Kate Kelly, and all those past and present who are forever part of Team Rep. Cori.
I thank them. They all have never forgotten the mission to do the most for every single person in St. Louis, starting with those who have the greatest need, from responding to the toughest of days--two historic flooding events, a devastating school shooting, displaced housing incidents, verbal attacks, and death threats--to the best of days--securing the eviction moratorium, transforming people's engagement with government, delivering for our community.
For our collective liberation and building movement-based coalitions, Team Rep. Cori has delivered for St. Louis, and I am deeply appreciative of every single one of them for their love and dedication to the people, all the people, all of humanity, and for the betterment of our world.
I thank the Ferguson front line, the families, the whole of our movement to save lives. I thank them for entrusting me and my team and our work. Our work is unfinished. We will never tire. We will never back down until justice is won.
I thank my family, who have always been there with me. I thank my dad, Earl, superdad. I wish my mom a happy birthday today. Go 70. I thank my sister, Kelli, my brother, Perry, my aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and
nephews. I thank my incredible husband, our four kids, and our grandchild, and our in-love family.
They have endured missed holidays, the weight of public scrutiny, and the challenges that come with my calling. Without your unwavering encouragement, without your boundless grace and steadfast support, I would not be able to dedicate myself so fully to serving St. Louis and to this work. Their love has always been my foundation. Their love has always been my strength.
I say to my beloved St. Louis: This work was never about one single seat. It was always about the change that we need to feel, the dreams we dare to dream for ourselves and for our children, for our legacy, the hopes and the aspirations we have to move beyond struggle and hardship toward opportunity and prosperity for all of us.
We are the change that we seek. What we have accomplished together over the last 4 years is nothing short of extraordinary. We have witnessed history, and we have made history. We have laughed, and we have cried. We have stood in solidarity, and we stood our doggone ground.
We have turned our pain into power and our obstacles into opportunities. We have faced challenges head-on, and we have emerged stronger than ever. We are St. Louis, though we know that there is yet still much more work left to do. Together, we have shown that it is possible to lead with purpose and moral clarity and to fight with honor and love for all people.
While my time in Congress may be coming to an end for now, know this: I came into Congress with my voice. Congress didn't give that to me, so Congress can't take that away when I leave, let's be clear.
It has been the honor of my life to be your Congresswoman for Missouri's First District.
To my mom and dad, I know they are proud. From St. Louis to Gaza and everywhere beyond and in between, I love and will always have their back, even if it means I lose something.
Until we rise again, I love St. Louis.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
