Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairwoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, 80 percent of Americans have debt, and we punish people for it. But the shame should actually be on policies that incentivize debt and predatory behavior in debt collection. The lack of protections in place for borrowers is a reflection of those harmful policies.

Debt collectors today can use virtually any means available to harass borrowers, even in the middle of a global pandemic that has taken nearly 600,000 American lives, increased unemployment, and left millions unsure of how they will put food on the table.

Debt collectors can call you, email you, text you, and even contact you on social media. My amendment will help rein in this endless harassment by prohibiting collectors from contacting borrowers on social media without explicit permission.

Mr. Speaker, while there is still more work to be done on this front, this an important place to start, and I encourage my colleagues to support the amendment.

Madam Speaker, I rise as the son of a single mom and as the brother of four sisters. Unfortunately, I have heard stories of abuse and assault and neglect throughout my life. I also heard these stories from my students and the many families I served throughout my time in education. The consistency throughout these stories illustrate how there is no recourse and there are no safe spaces for women to go to when they are under assault and feeling abused.

Madam Speaker, this past year, before joining Congress, I sat with a student and her mom in my office to call

a domestic violence help hotline. And we stayed on hold for hours before anyone came to the phone. There was no housing for them to go to in support of their safety. So I rise to support this legislation, and I rise to denounce the sexism and patriarchy and misogyny that continues to exist within our political arenas and within our laws.

Mr. Speaker, I have had the privilege of working in public education for 20 years. I started my career in 1999. That was the same year of the Columbine High School shooting. Throughout my career, unfortunately, we have had to continually deal with school shootings.

In our schools we have to prepare children as young as 4 years old for the possibility of a school shooting. We have Columbine, we have Parkland, we have Virginia Tech, and we have Sandy Hook.

I thought 9 years ago when Sandy Hood occurred that the country would stop, pause, and reflect on what is happening in our Nation. It was a mass shooting of our 6-year-old children--our babies. This law will begin the process of protecting our most vulnerable and protecting our babies.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to discuss the introduction of our Care for All Agenda.

Just as our physical infrastructure is crumbling, we suffer from lack of care infrastructure. In America today, millions of people cannot get care for themselves or their loved ones. We are failing children, older adults, people with disabilities, and all Americans.

And we don't care for the people who take care of us. Millions of care and domestic workers, disproportionately women of color, are exploited and paid poverty wages.

With bold, holistic public investments in the care economy, we can heal these wounds. We can substantially raise wages and benefits for workers. We can create millions of new zero-carbon care jobs. And we can create universal programs to guarantee care to all people. These investments are a crucial part of the Green New Deal. We cannot have a truly just, sustainable America without a healthy foundation of care.

The Care for All Agenda, introduced with 30 of my colleagues, and with the support of over 90 movement partners, lays out how centering care can be the rebirth of our Nation.

Join us in building a care community and society based on care for people, communities and the planet we all share.

Mr. Speaker, we live in a country where CEOs can make as much as 320 times what their workers make. We live in a country where 1 percent--the top 1 percent economically controls more wealth than the bottom 90 percent of our country. We live in a country where three individuals own more wealth than the bottom 50 percent of our Nation. In a democracy with a Constitution such as ours, this economic inequality cannot stand.

The PRO Act seeks to empower workers, workers who built this country with their blood, sweat, and tears, who work overtime and extra time and weekends and do not take a vacation so that our economy can thrive. The PRO Act gives workers the opportunity to unionize and organize without being oppressed within the plantation capitalist system. I rise to ask bipartisan support of this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter of support for this legislation from the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

Madam Speaker, I was 11 years old when the police beat the crap out of me. Eleven years old, sixth grade; what threat did I pose, other than that of a child who was horseplaying in the street?

My mother and I did not feel empowered to take any recourse, because in our community, the police, unfortunately, operate as an occupying force.

I thank God that I am alive to tell this story. Unfortunately, George Floyd is not alive. Philando Castile is not alive. Tamir Rice is not alive. Aiyana Jones slept in her apartment on her couch. She was 7 years old. Police came in with a no-knock warrant and murdered her.

This is about transparency and accountability, and we should pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in a bipartisan way.

Madam Speaker, our friends, our neighbors, and our family

members who are entangled in this injustice system did not lose their citizenship, so they should not lose their right to vote.

These are people from our communities, still connected strongly to our families, our schools, and our workplaces. As a result, they should not lose their right to vote.

Their right to vote must be restored because these are individuals-- people, not criminals--who can still think critically and creatively and contribute to our democracy. Our democracy will remain broken and sick and unhealthy until we heal by restoring the right to vote to our incarcerated individuals.

Madam Speaker, I rise proudly in support of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, along with my colleagues, Congresswoman Jackson Lee and Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

Unfortunately, I have had a lifetime of dealing with police brutality and police misconduct. It first happened when I was 11 years old. I was simply horseplaying with some of my friends in my neighborhood when the police approached us and asked us to keep it down. Because we had the audacity to ask a follow-up question, I was grabbed on my arm, I was thrown against the wall, and I was thrown to the ground, handcuffed, and night-sticked in the back.

Unfortunately, this was the first time, but not the last time. I have been taken out of my car and handcuffed, taken to jail and released without seeing a judge. Unfortunately, this is the norm for too many African Americans and too many poor people across this country.

So I ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act so that we can finally have justice and, most importantly, accountability across this country. Those who serve us in law enforcement are not above the law.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to share that I am introducing legislation to create a national commission to investigate the attempted insurrection on January 6th, and root out ties between white supremacists, white nationalists, and Capitol Police.

How did a group of armed, violent seditionists march into one of the most secure buildings, forcing Members of Congress to hide under their desks? What did the authorities know, and when did they know it? We need a national commission that will dig into the facts and openly share findings with the public.

What was abundantly clear last week was the stark contrast between the scarce and under-equipped security when insurrectionists stormed the Capitol--and how law enforcement agencies in D.C. and across the country rallied resources to brutalize and suppress demonstrators who were protesting in defense of Black lives and the lives of disabled people.

But what we saw last week is not new--it is a continuation of the American tradition of white backlash in the wake of social progress. And in this moment, I know that my colleagues and I will rise to the challenge and work to help our country heal. But none of this reconciliation can happen without truth and justice first.

As long as we allow white supremacy to continue to thrive in our society and our institutions, we will continue to suffer the consequences at the hands of its adherents. This is why it is so important that we pass my bill, the Congressional Oversight of Unjust Policing Act. My bill is the first step in the difficult task of investigating the failures in leadership and security that led up to the deadly events of January 6, 2021, and rooting out white supremacy in our law enforcement.

I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this legislation, and join me in moving it to full passage.