Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, today I want to remember the beautiful life of Rachel Abraham of Mamaroneck. Rachel passed recently at the young age of 25 from complications due to pulmonary hypertension, a condition she was diagnosed with at birth.

Our community in Mamaroneck and across New York's 16th district is devastated by Rachel's passing. I want to send love and strength to Rachel's parents, Deborah and Stephen, her siblings, Leah and Joshua, and her fiance, Dylan. I know that they are proud of Rachel's incredible life and all that she was able to accomplish.

After graduating from Mamaroneck High School, Rachel attended American University and was in the process of getting her masters degree from George Washington University. She was also working at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society as a Government Relations Manager, pursuing her goal of changing healthcare in the United States. Before her time at HIMSS, she worked for the National Council for Mental Wellbeing and ADvancing States and interned here in Congress.

We are all grateful for the contributions Rachel made to improving our healthcare across the country, work informed by her own experiences with the healthcare system throughout her life. Her commitment to public service and advocating for others is clear and we are all better for it.

My thoughts are with her family, friends, and loved ones in this difficult time. Rachel was a beautiful soul and an incredible part of our Mamaroneck community. It has been an honor to represent her and her family.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my sister Cori Bush for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I want to start by sending peace and love to this Chamber, peace and love to the American people, and, most importantly, peace and love to my family and to the incredible people of New York- 16.

I have to send a special shout-out to my lovely wife, Melissa Oppenheimer Bowman. Thank you for supporting me, loving me, and putting up with me over the last 4 years. Thank you for taking care of our beautiful children back home, Jelani, Marcel, and Maya.

It is hard for someone to be working class in this Chamber, and I know every time I came to Washington, you became a single mom, getting up very early in the morning, getting our kids ready for school, dropping them off at the bus stop, and then going to serve the people of the Bronx as a third grade teacher.

You would teach all day, get off of work, pick our kids up from school, bring them home, start cooking dinner, help them with their homework, plan your lessons for the next day for your kids, and then put our kids to bed.

Then, when I was here trying to do the job of the district and when I didn't go straight home after work, you made sure I heard about it. When I didn't call you when I got back home, you made sure I heard about that, too.

I love you. Thank you, Melissa, for all you have done.

I also thank my constituents, each of them, for trusting me to be their voice and allowing me to fight for them every single day in Congress.

Though I will be leaving Congress formally, I plan to continue to fight for the people in New York-16, particularly in the areas of Port Chester, Greenburgh, Yonkers, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, and, of course, the Bronx.

If it weren't for the people in these particular communities, especially the Bronx, where I served as an educator for 17 of the 20 years of my career, I would not have been prepared to come to Congress and serve the people.

Of course, I need to thank my team, both in New York and here in D.C., who worked every single day to do everything in their power to meet the needs of the people of New York-16.

Our case closure was exemplary. We brought tens of millions of dollars back to the district, and we did everything in our power to deal with the issues of affordability, gun violence, education, and so many other issues. I thank my staff and my team so much, and I thank them for their service.

In 2020, I became the first African American elected in the 16th District of New York in U.S. history. When I was running, I didn't even know that stat, which is pretty interesting.

As such, I stand on the shoulders of the giants who have come before me. My ancestors fought and died for me to have the opportunity to be here, and I am humbled by the immense honor and responsibility.

My ancestors built this place and built the strongest economy in the world as enslaved Africans in this country, and though we didn't pass any legislation related to reparations, we will continue to fight for reparations for Black people in this country.

I cannot go further without giving honor to my late mother, Ms. Pauline Bowman. My mother raised me and my three sisters alone. She was a civil servant in the post office for 33 years. She worked 6 days, sometimes 7 days a week and all the overtime she could muster to make sure that I was the first person in our family to go to college.

When I was very young, she told me--and I remember this story very clearly. We were coloring in a coloring book at the dining room table, and I could not color in between the lines. She could, and I thought it was like magic that she could.

I started crying. I was pretty upset. My mother looked me in the eye and told me I can be whatever I wanted to be.

It was that love and that confidence that she instilled in me that guided me and propelled me to win a historic election. She got to see me run. She got to see me win. She got to see me on her favorite news programs, CNN and MSNBC.

I would like to think that I made her proud before my sisters and I lost her to COVID on Valentine's Day in 2021.

Mom, Pauline Bowman, I love you. I thank you, and please continue to guide and watch over me.

It is a challenging world we live in, and I want to be the best example for my children and the people who I will continue to serve outside of this Chamber.

Mom, I love you. I always will love you. This place is better because of you and because of what you raised me to be.

Prior to being elected to Congress, I worked in education for 20 years as a

teacher, counselor, and middle school principal. My mission was to do everything in my power to unlock the unlimited potential of our kids.

My mission in Congress was to unlock the unlimited potential of a district that had been left behind for so long. I am proud of the transformational legislation we introduced and fought for that would uplift hardworking families across the country, particularly the most marginalized. From lowering costs to revolutionizing public education as we know it, the bills we introduced will be life-changing, and I am going to name a few.

My Green New Deal for public schools would heal and strengthen our schools and address the holistic needs of students to support healthy, safe, and high-quality learning opportunities. It is well past time that we put young people and public education at the center of our national response to the climate crisis, systemic racism, and economic inequality by passing this bill.

My Care for All Agenda would urge Federal investments to strengthen and expand the care economy, anchoring a transformation toward an economic system grounded in care for ourselves, our communities, and our planet instead of one grounded in money and power.

My Ending Corporate Greed Act would institute a windfall tax profits tax on corporations to penalize companies that use inflation as an excuse to raise prices and profit off the backs of hardworking Americans.

If we want to talk about truly transformational legislation that provides economic relief to the American people, puts money back in people's pockets, and charts a visionary path toward combating the challenges of the 21st century, then these bills are the place to start.

I hope that in the next Congress, my colleagues will have the courage to fight for these transformational pieces of legislation.

Otherwise, we have to ask ourselves, why are we here? What are we here for?

I will take a moment to talk about wealth inequality. The staggering wealth inequality we face today is not just a statistic; it is a reflection of decades of policy decisions and systemic failures that have left millions struggling while a few prosper.

Today, the two wealthiest individuals own more wealth than the bottom half of the country combined. This isn't because they worked harder than everyone else; it is the result of a system that prioritizes corporate profits over fair wages, tax cuts for the rich over investments in public goods, and financial markets over working families.

Wages for the average worker have barely risen in 40 years, while the cost of healthcare, housing, and education has skyrocketed. Meanwhile, those with generational wealth have used their influence to shape policies that protect their fortunes, while communities across America are left behind. This is not inevitable. It is a choice.

I will talk briefly about military spending for a moment. Tupac Shakur's words ring true today: ``They got money for wars but can't feed the poor.''

The U.S. spends over $886 billion annually on defense, more than the next 10 countries combined. Yet, millions of Americans struggle with poverty, housing insecurity, and access to childcare and education. Billions of dollars are wasted on over-budget weapons programs, failed projects, and unnecessary overseas military bases. We can and must reinvest our money in the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I will close with this: Never in my life did I think I would be elected to any office, let alone the United States House of Representatives. It was not on my to-do list or on my bucket list. I don't even know how I got here, quite frankly. I will say it was my work in education and my work with children and families over 20 years that helped me understand, on a visceral level, the deep, historic, systemic inequalities we have in our country that are policy decisions rooted in systemic discrimination.

To quote my sister, the great Ayanna Pressley: This body has committed policy violence toward communities of color and working-class people in our country. So my crazy butt decided I am going to run for office in 2019.

The reason why I got the confidence to do so is because I saw 4 incredible women run and win in 2018: Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ayanna Pressley. Four young women of color, a couple of them dark skinned, a couple of them Muslim, one wearing a hijab, transformed America in 2018 and they will continue to transform America for generations to come.

It is this body's responsibility to listen to them, learn from them, and follow their leadership because this country will never reach its full potential unless it follows the examples of these four women I just mentioned.

Mr. Speaker, I thank them so much for giving me a space and a platform and a footprint to be myself as I ran for office and won that historic election.

Then 2 years later, I was able to win and my sister, Cori Bush, was able to join me here in this incredible place. Then 2 years later, we got Delia Ramirez, Summer Lee, Greg Casar, and many others.

I am going to quote Ayanna Pressley again: Our squad is big, y'all, and our squad includes the entire country.

I will do everything in my power to continue to be an example for young people, working-class people, and people of color. I will do everything in my power to continue to be an example for young men, especially young Black men. We don't have to be rappers. We don't have to be athletes. We definitely don't have to be womanizers. Don't let the stereotypes drive you in that direction because we are fathers. We are husbands. We are sons. We are great people.

We will continue together to organize, mobilize, and build the movement rooted in love and humanity for ourselves, for our community, for this country, and for the world.

Mr. Speaker, I thank so much my sister, Cori, from St. Louis for allowing me a few words. I am excited for the work ahead of us. There is much more to come. Free Palestine, free the Bronx, and free all marginalized people, especially those locked up on trumped up marijuana charges. Let's also vacate the death row sentences of the 39 people on death row.

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 5717. This bill is a deeply absurd and completely transparent attempt to fearmonger and continue stoking hatred of immigrants in our communities.

Let me be loud and clear: Immigrants make our communities stronger and more vibrant every single day, and Americans can see through these tactics.

Instead of recognizing the beauty of our diverse communities and working to serve them, Republicans are putting forth a bill that would actually strip billions in Federal funding from their own communities and even from entire States, including my home State of New York.

This bill is so broadly written that it could endanger Federal funding for school lunches, public schools, hospitals, public transportation, roads and bridges, police equipment, emergency response, and much more.

These are the institutions that keep us safe, healthy, and able to thrive, but Republicans are throwing it all away for what? For hate, for fear-mongering, and for their own power. Our job in Congress is to serve our communities, not destroy them just to score cheap political points that are completely unfounded in reality.

For this reason, at the appropriate time, I will offer a motion to recommit this bill back to committee.

If the House rules permitted, I would have offered the motion with an important amendment to this bill. My amendment would restore desperately needed title I funding for our public schools. I am a lifelong educator. I was a teacher, counselor, and middle school principal before coming to Congress.

I have watched as Republicans have tried to come for public schools. In the FY25 budget, they proposed to cut title I funding by 25 percent. In fact, Project 2025 wants to cut title I funding for schools completely. Think about what that would mean for our kids. That means 180,000 teachers gone.

Funding that improves academic achievement, provides high-quality learning opportunities, enables extracurricular activities and co-curricular activities and supplemental services are all decimated.

Schools are the backbone of our communities and the lifeblood of our democracy.

Increasing title I means more quality educators, more school-based programs to nurture students, smaller class sizes, and better student outcomes.

So my amendment would do just that. That is because it is far past time that we prioritize our kids, and our communities deserve a bill take actually meet their needs, not one that completely abandons them.

Mr. Chair, I hope my colleagues will join me in voting for the motion to recommit.

I include in the Record the text of this amendment.

Mr. Bowman of New York moves to recommit the bill H.R. 5717

to the Committee on the Judiciary with instructions to report

the same back to the House forthwith, with the following

amendment:

Add at the end of the bill the following:

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Ramirez for her leadership and for allowing me to participate in this really important discussion. I thank her for bringing this issue to the forefront of the American people.

There are many who believe we no longer have a democracy. There are many who believe our country is controlled by an oligarchy. Many believe our country is controlled by a few wealthy Americans who act as puppet masters over Members of Congress and who act as puppet masters over elected officials across the country.

We are not engaging in the arena of new ideas. We are not engaging in the arena of shared values. We take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution against enemies, foreign and domestic, but if we allow people with wealth to undermine our Constitution, we are not doing our job.

Yes, I can speak personally to this issue because, in my primary race, I had special interest groups spend more money against me in my primary than has been spent against any Member of Congress in United States history.

My district was bombarded with advertisements, with mailers, with misinformation and disinformation, and with ideas and policies that reflected the values behind the big money that was being poured in.

What made it worse is a lot of this big money came from unknown sources. Because of Supreme Court decisions like Citizens United, we don't have to publicly know where these dollars are coming from as we engage with super-PACs.

We absolutely need democracy reform, and it starts with getting big money out of politics. One important way to do that is to overturn Citizens United. We must overturn Citizens United. If you want to support a candidate, your name must be public, period. Not only that, but if you believe those who say, and I do, that our democracy is no longer a democracy because it is controlled by an oligarchy, the wealthy elite, we have to look at the outcomes that our democracy is currently producing.

Why don't we have universal healthcare? Why don't we have fully funded public schools? Why don't we have paid leave for all? Why don't we have a Green New Deal? Why do one in five children go to bed hungry in our country? Why do we have consistent economic and wealth inequality?

I would argue it is because those in the oligarchy class want things to remain that way. As a result, Members of this body continue to vote in favor of special interests.

We couldn't even raise the Federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour. If you grow up or live in a redlined community, redlined by American politicians in this body, your schools are less funded than wealthier communities.

A strong, vibrant, healthy democracy must include every single person in our country voting in every election, but they are being disenfranchised by the big money, and they have lost hope because of the big money.

Again, I thank Representative Ramirez for her leadership and for allowing me to say a few words. In order for our democracy to be as strong as ever, both on the domestic front but also supporting democracies around the world, we have to get big money out of politics.

Mr. Speaker, we should all be outraged by the murder of Sonya Massey, an unarmed 36-year-old mother of two who was killed in her own home, clearly struggling with mental illness.

The police officers did not know how to respond. They threatened to shoot her in the face, and they actually shot her in the face.

Sonya Massey should be alive today. Breonna Taylor should be alive today, and Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many more.

We need transformational police reform now in our country. This officer should have never been on the job.

As a Black man, every time I see another Black person, particularly a Black woman, killed by law enforcement, it takes a piece of my soul.

We have a Black woman running to be President while Black women are being shot and killed in our communities. Enough is enough.

Mr. Speaker, this is Sara. Sara is a 17-year-old Palestinian girl whose entire body was burned by an Israeli bomb. She could not seek immediate medical attention because the IDF had her home surrounded. It is a miracle that she survived. Her brother and sister did not.

That Israeli bomb was paid for by the American tax dollar. We continue to fund the collective punishment of civilians in Palestine, in Gaza. Sara is not Hamas. She is a civilian. She is innocent. She loved to play volleyball. Her brothers loved to ride horses.

Now today, we have invited Binyamin Netanyahu, who is being charged with war crimes, to address this House. Are we a democracy for all? Are we a democracy that leads with our humanity or will we continue to support the war crimes of Netanyahu?

Mr. Speaker, 2 years ago, a gunman drove to a Black neighborhood with an assault rifle in his hand and hate in his heart, opening fire and killing 10 people in Buffalo, New York. He was radicalized by the great replacement theory, a white supremacist, racist, anti-Semitic conspiracy.

We are still mourning 10 souls lost to this senseless violence.

The only way to move forward is to acknowledge that what is killing us in droves is hatred and continued white supremacy. Congress cannot continue to ignore these hateful and discriminatory ideologies that are being promoted by far-right MAGA extremists.

I introduced a resolution to condemn the great replacement theory, racism, anti-Semitism, hatred, and bigotry in all its forms. We must stand up together and say clearly that white supremacy is an existential threat. We also need reparations for the Black community in Buffalo and around the country, like food justice for community members and free mental health to support and address community trauma.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in condemning the great replacement theory, repairing the harms of white supremacy, and fighting to root out hatred once and for all.

Mr. Speaker, this week we recognize Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the month of May as Jewish Heritage Month.

We honor the 6 million Jewish lives lost to anti-Semitism, hatred, and violence. The Holocaust is not a distant memory. It happened within the lifetime of many Jewish people.

We also must acknowledge that this year marks the first Holocaust Remembrance Day since the attacks on October 7. This remembrance day feels different and raw for many of our Jewish brothers and sisters.

Let us take the month of May to celebrate Jewish culture, history, and people. Let us also begin this month remembering the millions of souls lost to the Holocaust, acknowledging the many survivors of the horrific events

of October 7, and standing with the Jewish community and those who have experienced lasting trauma as a result of anti-Semitism.

Let us vow to fight together and say ``never again'' for anyone.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day. Happy Teacher Appreciation Week. I thank America's teachers for all that they do for our children, families, and our country. As a former educator, I know exactly the sacrifices they make each and every day.

A shout-out to Mr. Eldridge, Mr. Harrell, and my favorite teacher of all time, Ms. James, for making me the person I am today. I also offer a huge shout-out to Melissa Oppenheimer Bowman, my wife, who is a third-grade teacher right now in the Bronx.

We need to make sure we continue to support our teachers, as they are educating the next generation of visionary, humanitarian leaders for our country and for the world. Let's never leave our teachers behind and let's always uplift public education.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Jackson for his leadership on this very important issue.

Mr. Speaker, prior to coming to Congress, I worked in education for 20 years. I started my career as an elementary school teacher in the South Bronx before becoming a high school dean of students and guidance counselor and before having the privilege of opening my own school and running it as a middle school principal for 10\1/2\ years.

The year before I decided to run for Congress, 34 children died within the K-12 school system in the Bronx, and 17 died via suicide. No one was making the connection between these horrible outcomes for our children and families with the historical neglect and trauma of their communities and the policies that come not just from local government or State government but also from the Federal Government.

As mentioned by Chairman Horsford, it is incredibly difficult to access mental health resources in historically marginalized communities because of historical underfunding and historical neglect.

It is tremendously urgent and incumbent upon us here in the House of Representatives to pass transformational, revolutionary legislation as it relates to supporting the mental health of every single person in our country. We need to make sure that we are not simply passing legislation but that we are also providing the resources and funding to build out the mental health ecosystem so that we can have more professionals working within the mental health system as professionals supporting the American people, particularly those who are most vulnerable.

A couple of weeks ago, we introduced the Improving Access to Mental Health Act, which seeks to invest many more resources into our minority-serving institutions, Hispanic-serving institutions, and historically Black colleges so that we can build out the mental health programs in these particular institutions.

We need more counselors. We need more psychologists. We need more psychiatrists. We need trauma specialists. We need many more mental health professionals in our schools and communities.

When we make these investments, what we see is a dramatic decrease in the number of people who are incarcerated in our communities because many of the people who are incarcerated suffer from mental health challenges that have gone untreated.

Many of the people who are incarcerated have experienced intense trauma, what professionals call toxic stress and chronic trauma, in their lives that needed to be responded to by a mental health professional, but it never was. As a result, they then commit harm in their communities. When they are going through harm within their own bodies and minds and spirits without receiving the care that they need, they are more likely to commit harm.

Investing in our mental health as part, I might add, of a universal healthcare system dramatically decreases the costs for our jail and prison system, decreases the costs for our overall healthcare system, and improves education and economic outcomes. It is a win-win-win-win when we pass legislation as it relates to mental health and invest in supporting our children and families with their mental health.

I will close with this. I mentioned toxic stress and chronic trauma. We have certain communities in our country--rural and urban, historically underserved, historically underfunded, historically marginalized, and historically neglected--because of lack of access and opportunity, many of those communities have been redlined on purpose by this very institution.

When children are born into those communities, they are much more likely to experience toxic stress and chronic trauma.

Mr. Speaker, when our babies from prenatal to age 3 experience toxic stress and chronic trauma, do you know that the prefrontal cortex of the brain doesn't develop accordingly? As a result, their regulatory skills, as well as their higher thinking skills, are compromised, which leaves them more likely to experience an adverse mental health event or to be diagnosed with a mental health condition. It also makes them more likely to be placed in special education in our school system and makes it more likely for them to be a part of the school-to-prison pipeline.

That is why it is not just about investing in mental health. It is about investing in universal childcare and universal pre-K because when we invest in universal childcare and universal pre-K, we are ensuring our kids are growing up and are nurtured in the most nurturing conditions imaginable, and they are less likely to experience the stress and trauma that I talked about.

When they don't experience the stress and trauma, their prefrontal cortex develops properly, which leads to better education and economic outcomes and keeps them off the school-to-prison pipeline.

Investing in our mental health is a matter of national security. If we really care about foreign countries and how they are maybe responding to us and spying on us and kicking our butts when it comes to technology, when we invest in all Americans, especially the most vulnerable ones, we are going to

have incredible economic, social, and health outcomes on the back end.

I thank Representative Jackson for his leadership and for allowing me to say a few words.

Mr. Speaker, I have had guns pulled on me multiple times by law enforcement simply for being a Black man in America, and now I see guns being drawn on peaceful protesters at Columbia University.

When I was 11 years old, I was the victim of police brutality simply for being Black in America, and now I see that brutality being inflicted on peaceful protesters at Columbia University. For what? Simply exercising their First Amendment rights to peacefully assemble as they protest the collective punishment and murder of civilians in Gaza; 100,000 killed and injured, mostly women and children. They are protesting our taxpayer dollars going to Benjamin Netanyahu to continue this mass murder. That is their right.

They are supposed to push us to stand for what this flag represents. Are we in a police state or is this a democracy? We must stand with our young people and demand justice and freedom for Palestinians and everyone in this world.

Madam Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted Nay on Roll Call No. 143.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her leadership, and I thank her for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I am telling America, the rent is too damn high. I repeat, the rent is too damn high. It remains too damn high for the majority of Americans.

We believe very strongly that housing is a human right. Every single person in our country should have access to affordable housing--housing that is truly affordable.

If you work full time in our country, you should be able to afford clean, respectful, dignified, adequate housing. No American should spend more than 20 percent of their salary toward rent and/or mortgages.

In my district, you have people paying 30, 40, 50, 60, even 70 percent of their salaries toward rent. How can you afford transportation? How can you afford childcare? How can you afford education or to get your child tutoring or to take additional courses for yourself? How can you afford to put your child in martial arts or science or arts or music programs when the majority of your money is going toward rent?

In Westchester County where the majority of my district resides, you need to make $40 an hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment. That means you will be working 2.6 minimum wage jobs, and you will not have discretionary income. You will not have an exemplary quality of life, which should be the goal of this Congress; to make sure that everyone in our country has their basic needs met, beginning with housing.

President Biden recently announced a rent cap in properties that use the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. That is a huge help for millions of Americans. We thank President Biden--huge shout-out to him. But we need for the President to go further and regulate rent across the country. He should use his authority to cap rent at any property with a federally backed mortgage, which Senator Warren and I have joined tenant leaders in proposing.

I want to give a huge shout-out to community voices heard who are organizing for tenants in Yonkers, in the Bronx, and all throughout Westchester County. I want to give a huge shout-out to Evelyn Santiago, who is organizing for tenants in White Plains, and throughout Westchester County. I want to give a shout-out to Jeanette Garcia who is working and organizing with United Yonkers for tenants' rights.

As development goes up, we have to make sure rent remains truly affordable for the working class. We should not be allowing the displacement or the gentrification of the most vulnerable in our communities. I want to give a huge shout-out to Westhab. We have worked very closely with them to give them millions of dollars to build and sustain affordable housing for seniors and others in Yonkers and in places all over the county and the district.

We need a Green New Deal for public housing. We have to rebuild our public housing stock. The Federal Government has disinvested in public housing for decades, and over the last 10 years there has not been a dime given to public housing. We need new public social housing in alignment with our climate goals.

We also need to support Representative Omar's bill, the Housing for All Act, to invest a trillion dollars over the next 10 years to make sure that everyone has a home.

For those who are unhoused and may need supportive housing, we need to build that, too.

America used to be the country of big ideas, but we need to make sure we implement these big ideas for marginalized people and marginalized communities because housing is a human right, and the rent is too damn high.

We still have so many people in our country, millions, not just unemployed, but underemployed--under employed.

Housing costs are through the roof. Food costs are through the roof. Utilities costs--``Ay, Dios mio''; ``Oh, my God''--are through the roof. People can't afford childcare.

We are creating a permanent underclass because we do not have a bold vision as a United States Congress. The only way our democracy is going to work for everyone is if we focus on equity. Step one is to focus on equity to make sure everyone has a clean, dignified, respectful, clean energy home. That should be our goal. That should be our mission.

I thank Representative Ramirez for her leadership and vision for housing in our country. Her leadership in Chicago and all throughout the State of Illinois and our country is astounding. She inspires women across this country. She inspires Latinas across this country. She inspires people of color across this country. She inspires me.

I am a sophomore Representative, and she is a freshman. I look up to her and ask her to please continue to share her bold vision with the people of America.

Mr. Speaker, we are facing a mental health crisis. Yesterday, I introduced the ACCESS in Mental Health Act to highlight an issue that is critical to our democracy and our collective mental health.

Everyone deserves access to diverse mental health professionals. That is why I introduced this legislation, which will invest in HBCUs, TCUs, MSIs, and HSIs, to create and expand graduate programs in mental health fields and support students pursuing graduate degrees in mental health at these institutions.

I am grateful to have the partnership of Maria Alfaro from Que Paso Latinx in Westchester County, New York; the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities; and the American Psychological Association in moving this bill forward.

As an educator in the Bronx, I saw how powerful it was for students to have mentors that looked like them. Everyone deserves to turn to someone that they can trust who reflects their identities. We need to diversify and expand our mental health workforce to meet the needs of every American, especially our most marginalized communities.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 57.