Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, on February 7, 2017, I did not cast my vote on roll call votes No. 81 and No. 82. Had I been present, I would have voted ``NAY'' on both votes.

On February 14, 2017, I was unavoidably absent due to illness and unable to cast my votes on roll call votes Nos. 88 through 92. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows: Roll call vote 88 on ordering the previous question; NAY; Roll call vote 89 on agreeing to the Resolution, H. Res. 99; NAY; Roll call vote 90 on ordering the previous question: NAY; Roll call vote 91 on agreeing to the Resolution, H. Res. 116: NAY; Roll call vote 92 on final passage of H.R. 428, the Red River Gradient Boundary Survey Act; NAY.

Mr. Speaker, today, I salute Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

For 104 years and counting, Deltas have been strong advocates for our communities, the nation and around the globe.

As a proud Delta myself, I had the honor to speak over the weekend to my fellow Sorors at the Columbus Alumnae Chapter's 2017 Founders Day Luncheon.

On Saturday, February 11th, I joined a room full of women standing up for civil rights and voting rights, equal pay for equal work, financial literacy, and high-quality education for all children.

Women committed to fighting for the 30 million newly-insured Americans through the Affordable Care Act as well as seniors and individuals with disabilities who rely on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Yes, we the more than 200,000 strong, representing 1,000 chapters around the world, are working to honor our rich past by focusing on the future.

Thanks to the amazing leadership of Columbus Chapter President Deidra Reese and National President Dr. Paulette Walker, that future looks brighter than ever.

Go Deltas.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to support American Heart Association's Go Red for Women campaign.

The Go Red for Women campaign is an incredible public awareness initiative, spearheaded by the American Heart Association to promote heart-healthy lifestyles.

We have great results. Since Go Red for Women started in 2004, more than 627,000 women's lives have been saved, and I am so proud that I was an initiator and supporter of Go Red for Women in my great State of Ohio in the capital city of Columbus.

Yes, we have made great progress, Mr. Speaker, but we still have a long way to go in helping to prevent cardiovascular disease, including stroke.

Cardiovascular diseases claim more lives each year than all forms of cancer combined, and it is just not women, Mr. Speaker. That includes men, also. However, women do have a higher risk of stroke than their male counterparts.

In fact, 90 percent of all women have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease. Collectively, cardiovascular disease and stroke cause one in three women's death each year, killing approximately one woman every minute.

Yet, even with these eye-catching statistics, according to the American Heart Association, almost half of all the women, Mr. Speaker, are not aware of heart disease, and that it is the leading cause of death for women.

For African American women like me, the risk of heart disease is far greater. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for African American women, killing almost 50,000 annually. Of African American women ages 20 and older, 49 percent have heart disease, but only 1 in 5 African American women believe they are personally at risk.

Mr. Speaker, I was one of them. I suffered a cerebral brain stem stroke in 1999. But after my personal experience, I decided to do something about it. I decided to get more engaged, and I am so proud to say that I was appointed to serve on the American Heart Association Board, and at that time, I was the only non-healthcare professional or cardiovascular physician on the board.

That is why, Mr. Speaker, when I came to Congress, I decided that I would be engaged, and I became the co-chair of the Congressional Heart and Stroke Coalition, where my colleagues and I work very hard to raise the awareness about the prevalence and the severity of cardiovascular disease.

Last Congress, Mr. Speaker, I introduced the Return to Work Awareness Act, which would assist survivors of stroke and other debilitating health occurrences to be able to return to work.

Mr. Speaker, I will always be an active participant in education and awareness. I will reintroduce that important piece of legislation this month, during American Heart Month, and I invite all my colleagues, Democrat and Republican, to join me in sponsoring this piece of legislation.

This month, as we celebrate American Heart Month, let us recommit ourselves to becoming more educated about cardiovascular diseases, improving our heart health, and continuing to fight against this devastating disease.

Today, Mr. Speaker, I want the Nation to know that women will stand on the Capitol steps, and we will have our photo taken, all dressed in red, because we want to stand united to help educate this Nation, that if we stand together, maybe, just maybe, we can send a strong signal to America that we can fight against this disease.

I want to personally thank Nancy Brown for allowing me to serve with her on the Board, and welcome the new CEO, Steven Houser, and so many of the volunteers across this Nation and the leaders because we know, Mr. Speaker, that we need to recognize all Americans who are battling heart disease and express gratitude to all of them.

I thank the gentleman, my classmate and colleague, Congressman Veasey. And to my colleague, Congresswoman Stacy Plaskett, thank you for convening tonight's Special Order for the Congressional Black Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, we are here for two topics tonight, and you will see many of us come and talk about these topics.

So to my colleagues, let me just cut my message short and say that we are here because we all witnessed, over the weekend, President Trump's latest executive order barring immigrants, refugees, and legal permanent residents from seven Muslim-majority countries. This has set off a protest across the Nation.

I was so proud that I was able to stand in my Third Congressional District with families and individuals protesting his unilateral move that is not making us safe. It flies in the face of the values and the freedoms enshrined in our Constitution.

Mr. Speaker, I am here because we had individuals in my district who were held in the New York airport, while many others weren't freed like they were. That is why I will continue to stand up to President Trump and stand with my people.

We are also here tonight to respond to another unsubstantiated but extremely dangerous claim made by President Trump. We know that last week he doubled down on his assertion that he would have `` . . . won the popular vote,'' Mr. Speaker, ``if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.''

Obviously not satisfied with winning the Electoral College, Trump continues to focus on defending his national popular vote loss of almost 3 million votes. He now believes, without any evidence to support his claim, that 3 to 5 million people voted fraudulently in the 2016 election.

While this was par for the course for the Trump campaign, but now that he is in the White House, Mr. Speaker, he intends to make this voter fraud untruth the subject of an actual government investigation mandated by a soon-to-be executive order, wasting untold amounts of taxpayer dollars.

Well, when the Congressional Black Caucus hears people using terms like ``voter fraud,'' ``illegally voted,'' and ``strengthening up voting procedures,'' we read between the lines; and that is why we are here tonight to stand up against voter fraud that he is saying, because we know it is voter suppression.

Mr. Speaker, on January 23, 2017, I missed roll call vote 60 due to unavoidable delay. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on final passage of H.R. 423, the Anti-Spoofing Act.

Mr. Speaker, Sunday, our country recognizes the eighth anniversary of the landmark Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which former President Obama signed into law on January 29, 2009.

Congress passed and President Obama signed this legislation into law, the first of his Administration, in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 550 U.S. 618 (2007), that severely restricted the time period for filing pay discrimination complaints against one's employer.

In the underlying case, Lilly Ledbetter, a production supervisor at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber plant in Gadsden, Alabama, discovered that she was being paid less than her male counterparts for nearly two decades.

Then and there, she made the decision to fight back for paycheck equality.

Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court undercut her fight in ruling that Ledbetter could not bring a wage discrimination suit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 simply because she did not file her claim within 180 days of a discriminatory salary decision.

Despite the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling, Ledbetter's fight was not in vain because Congress, in 2009, passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which helps ensure fair pay for all Americans by expanding the time period in which employees may challenge an employer's compensation decision.

Because of this law, women today have the right to pursue legal action for pay discrimination--whenever it occurs.

Unfortunately, equal pay for equal work has not become a reality.

In 2015, the pay gap between men and women still remains, as women made only 83 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts.

And for women of color, that gap is even wider.

During the same time, African-American women made 65 cents to every dollar earned by men.

Hispanic women, faring even worse than black women, made only 58 cents to every dollar earned by their White male counterparts.

Pay disparities not only affect women during their careers, but follows them into retirement, reducing pensions and Social Security benefits because of a lifetime of lower wages and less money to invest. This negative impact is lasting because it affects generations yet unborn.

As we mark this anniversary, let us recommit ourselves to ending discrimination against women in all forms.

In the 115th Congress, I will proudly join the Democratic Caucus in continuing the fight for equal pay for equal work, investment in employment opportunities for women, and raising the minimum wage. Because as we know, when ``Women Succeed, America Succeeds.''

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Congresswoman Stacy Plaskett, for leading tonight's Special Order hour, joined by her cochair, Congressman Marc Veasey, and also my classmate.

Let me say to our chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Congressman Cedric Richmond for bringing this Special Order hour here tonight. So much has been said already. But let me say how honored I am to join my colleagues as we address and talk about ``A Response to President Trump's Inaugural Address and New Deal for African Americans.''

Like so many of my colleagues tonight, Mr. Speaker, and the countless Americans who are watching at home, I remain deeply concerned and troubled about several of the statements that Mr. Trump made and also about the stances of Mr. Trump's Cabinet members, comments about minorities and women and immigrants, and, of course, comments about our own colleague Congressman John Lewis.

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, in Trump's inaugural address, he did nothing to ease those concerns or to unite us. On the contrary, all I heard on Friday was another campaign speech of more of the same divisive rhetoric and recycled ideas from his campaign trail, ideas like the new deal for Black America that he mentioned on the campaign trail, a proposal that you have heard a lot about tonight that embraces the same trickle-down economic assumptions that didn't work for African Americans in the past and certainly won't work today.

Mr. Speaker, during his campaign speech, Trump talked about gangs roaming the streets and how African American communities are being decimated by crime. He went so far as to say, overwhelmingly, the majority of Black people living in inner cities in the United States are ``living in hell.''

Well, Mr. Speaker, I want President Trump to know that I am Black. I grew up in the United States inner city, but I didn't live in hell. And here I stand now, educated in the public schools, attended a historically Black university and college, and I am a Member of the United States Congress.

Mr. Trump said: ``We are one Nation--and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams, and their success will be our success.''

He was referencing mothers and children strapped in poverty in our inner cities. He was referencing rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our Nation, and an education system flush with cash but leaving our young students deprived of knowledge.

Well, Mr. Speaker, I want to see his plans for public education. I want to see his plans for inner-city students. I want to see his plans flush with all that cash that he talked about going into our public schools. I want us to unite to help eradicate the cycle of poverty and eliminate the too-often traveled pipeline from underperforming schools to overcrowded prisons.

I want to see Mr. Trump's plan on criminal justice reform. I want a fair Attorney General vetted and confirmed because they will stand up every single day for equal rights of all Americans, for freedom of speech, for freedom to vote, and much more--not an Attorney General who lacks the ability to represent disenfranchised groups, not someone who fails to champion the least of us.

I have not seen those things in nominee Sessions.

Lastly, I want Cabinet members who will be champions for our seniors--people like my 92-year-old mother. I want Cabinet members who will stand up for minorities and minority businesses. See, we need greater assistance in minority businesses and funds for minority business. I want Cabinet members who will build on and strengthen our healthcare system--yes, to make it greater, not to take away health care from 30 million people. Let me just say that I want to plan for workforce development programs and reentry training programs for those laid-off factory workers. I want to see plans for mothers and families because we certainly know, when women succeed, America succeeds.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. I dare ask that women get equal pay for equal work. I don't want recycled, failed policies that will do nothing to heal our communities. I am proud to be a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. We are the conscience of the Congress.

Let me end by saying that there are so many programs. We have a task force on poverty, led by Congresswoman Barbara Lee. I won't repeat the program that Assistant Democratic Leader Clyburn has already introduced--the 10-20-30 plan.

Let me again thank my colleagues for bringing their powerful voices to this floor.

Mr. Speaker, it is incumbent upon all of us to join the members of the Congressional Black Caucus, the entire House Democratic Caucus, and all Americans of every color--in standing up to President Trump and continuing to let him know, as our preamble of the Constitution says-- to form a more perfect Union for all Americans.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, January 16, 2017, our nation will signify the tremendous life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Each year, on the third Monday in January, we remember and celebrate a man who led a non-violent movement that urged our country to become more fair and more just and provide equal opportunity for all.

As our nation honors the life of Dr. King, I call to mind his statement, ``Life's most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?''

This year, on what would have been his eighty-eighth birthday, countless people in my home state of Ohio are answering his call to serve by advocating for civil rights and greater access and equal opportunity at the ballot box, inspiring the next generation of community and national leaders, helping the sick, elderly, and poor and many more profound acts of service.

Like Dr. King, they understand the power and impact of service--not just on our community and State, but on our entire country and across the world. We all need to be more and do more for others and to promote unity and peace. This is of what Dr. King dreamed.

Because this day isn't meant to be a ``day off,'' it is meant to be a ``day on'': a day on of service.

In that spirit, as we celebrate the thirty-first MLK Day of Service, I challenge all Americans to make a difference in their community.

Indeed, that is how we can best honor Dr. King's legacy and how we make his dream--where we are not judged by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character--a reality for all people.

Happy Birthday Dr. King. He should be pleased his legacy endures.

Mr. Speaker, what is the message?

I rise today because I am fighting for Medicare, and I oppose any attempts to balance the budget on the backs of seniors by privatizing Medicare.

For over 50 years, Medicare has guaranteed health care to all Americans 65 years or older and continues to do so for more than 50 million Americans today. Seniors, like my constituent Linda and her mother, who rely on Medicare for their healthcare needs, do not want Republicans to dismantle it.

What is the message, Mr. Speaker?

In my home State of Ohio, about 2 million seniors and disabled individuals, including 1 million women, 260,000 African Americans, are at risk of losing their Medicare benefits if Republicans privatize it.

Mr. Speaker, I am here to fight for Linda, her mother, for Janet and Mary and Robert and many other seniors who count on Medicare for their doctor's visits, their prescription assistance, and many other medical needs.

Mr. Speaker, what is the message?

We cannot let our seniors down. Democrats will fight to preserve Medicare to protect our seniors for generations to come.

Mr. Speaker, I come to the House floor today to join my colleagues from the great State of Ohio. I come here because we have a statement that we want to make to voice to not only the citizens of Ohio but to this great country.

I am honored to join Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, two women who have been in the battle for our citizens, but, more importantly, for our students, for education, and for our teachers.

So today, Mr. Speaker, I demand that Betsy DeVos, President-elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, repay the $5.3 million-- yes, Mr. Speaker, I am going to say that again--$5.3 million in fines owed by her political action committee, All Children Matter, to my home State of Ohio.

The PAC's contempt for Ohio campaign finance laws by illegally funneling contributions from a nationwide PAC to an unregistered Ohio affiliate is troublesome. And its refusal to pay these fines to the State of Ohio is disgraceful as the debt is nearly a decade old.

Can you imagine what would happen if a student refused to pay something that they owed to a university or to the State? I don't have to answer that. We all know what would happen.

Mr. Speaker, I ask: How can the public trust Ms. DeVos to ensure borrowers repay their student loans in a timely manner when the group she chaired failed to pay fines that were imposed nearly a decade ago? The fines owed to the State of Ohio--the $5.3 million--belongs to the taxpayers of Ohio. And every time, Mr. Speaker, I say $5.3 million, I am going to say it twice because she owes $5.3 million that belongs to the taxpayers of Ohio. This is money that could be used to pay for more teachers and other initiatives to help educate Ohio's children.

We cannot let her skirt the system and cheat Ohio taxpayers. No, we cannot let her be nominated and confirmed to be over our educational system.

I urge her to repay the $5.3 million in fines prior to her Senate confirmation hearing next week.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and chair of this Special Order hour (Mr. Veasey) and the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (Mr. Richmond). It is indeed an honor, Mr. Speaker, for me to stand here with these colleagues tonight.

We come tonight with a strong message. We are here to speak out against President-elect Trump's Cabinet nominations who, based on their records, are, in my opinion, too divisive, too extreme, too out of touch, and unable to protect the interests and the safety of all Americans--individuals like Jeff Sessions and Betsy DeVos.

Trust me, Mr. Speaker, these nominees need to be vetted. The American people deserve to know who will be in charge of these critically important Federal agencies.

We are extremely concerned with Senator Jeff Sessions' nomination to be the U.S. Attorney General. Sessions, as you have heard tonight and you will continue to hear, has continuously obstructed the progress we have made with the enactment of the historic civil rights legislation of the 1960s.

He has consistently, Mr. Speaker, fought to block legislative efforts to ensure racial equality, including his staunch opposition to full enforcement of the Voting Rights Act--the very bill, Mr. Speaker, if confirmed, he would be in charge of enforcing and protecting.

Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues. We cannot allow that to happen.

Next up in Trump's Cabinet of cronies is his nominee for Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, who has pushed to expand taxpayer-funded vouchers for private and religious schools and has absolutely zero experience as an educator or an educational leader. She has, however, Mr. Speaker, spent millions of dollars lobbying for school choice proposals which harm disadvantaged and at-risk communities.

Now, I am from the great State of Ohio, and to have someone owe our Ohio Elections Commission $5.3 million, we cannot allow that to happen. We have to be the voice for the people. Especially those people who are voiceless.

Mr. Speaker, let me end by saying that as a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, I stand here tonight wanting the public to know that we are concerned and we are exercising our right and our voice.

I thank the gentlewoman from Alabama.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join Congresswoman Terri Sewell, my good friend, and my good friend from Alabama, Martha Roby, in strong support of H.R. 431, a bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the foot soldiers who participated in the Selma freedom marches in March of 1965.

These foot soldiers, including our colleague from Georgia, Congressman John Lewis, and the men, women, and children who marched on Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, and in the final march from Selma to Montgomery, were met with attacks and dogs, beatings, and death along the way. But, Mr. Speaker, still they marched, as many of us will march in a few weeks, to fight for equal rights and voting rights.

Mr. Speaker, let us honor the 1965 foot soldiers for their bravery and for their equality, marching for equality. I urge all Members to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 431.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Go Red for Women.

More than 600,000 women's lives have been saved from heart disease since Go Red for Women was created in 2004, but heart disease still remains the number one killer for women and men and causes more deaths than all forms of cancer.

As a National Heart Association Board member, one of Columbus, Ohio's first Go Red chairs, and a member of the Congressional Heart Caucus, I rise today to recognize survivors, those battling with heart disease, and those who are fighting and working to find cures and improve treatments.

Today, Members of Congress will stand together, Democrats and Republicans, in red to send a message to the Nation that as colleagues, we can stand and celebrate the American Heart Association and its Go Red for Women campaign.

Mr. Speaker, working together, we will make a difference.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to join my other colleagues tonight to thank Congresswoman Kelly from Illinois and Congressman Payne from New Jersey for organizing tonight's Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour.

I rise to highlight a pivotal moment in America's history--the Selma voting rights march--that 50 years ago, Mr. Speaker, brought together Americans to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, across the now famous Edmund Pettus Bridge. There were attacks and dogs, beatings and deaths, but still we marched because we as a country knew that all Americans should have the same rights. The 54-mile walk was an effort to demonstrate the desire of Black American citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote and to be treated equally.

Mr. Speaker, although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 legally desegregated the South, discrimination and segregation remained throughout much of the United States. The march led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which, today, continues to be eroded in a threatened bill. The communities across our Nation certainly have threats to their basic rights, and there are certainly injustices. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King--and they still ring true today when I think about his words--``injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'' When I reflect on my recent trip to Ferguson-- where I witnessed firsthand--it seems that we are still reengaging in our unfortunate history and ongoing challenges with voting rights, voter registration, and injustices--and with new vitality and vigor.

Mr. Speaker, I will stand with my colleagues--those who are here, along with Congressman John Lewis and Congresswoman Terri Sewell--when we march across that bridge and when we say that we must turn our march toward solutions. If we, Democrats and Republicans, can watch a movie together about Selma, sharing silent moments in tears, sharing stories of our own experiences, surely we can come together to fix voting rights. How long must we wait, Mr. Speaker? How long will it take?

Let me end with these words: it is on all of us here in this body to march for voting rights and to march for having voting rights.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague, Congresswoman Robin Kelly.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to allow my colleague, Congresswoman Yvette Clarke from Brooklyn, who is also the vice president of the Congressional Black Caucus, to share her thoughts with us.

(Ms. CLARKE of New York asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, as we talk about the struggle continuing, it is my honor to ask my colleague and classmate, Congressman Marc Veasey from Texas, to be our next presenter.

Thank you so much to my colleague.

Mr. Speaker, at this time it gives me great pleasure to ask Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman--I am very proud to say that she is a part of this 114th freshman class--to say a few words.

(Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, in closing remarks, let me thank you for extending our time tonight. We have heard from voices of legends tonight. But tonight I would like to end by giving special recognition to two new voices, two new legends who tonight led us through something more than a Special Order hour. They led us through a Special Order hour in history.

To Congressman Donald Payne of New Jersey, thank you for picking this topic and partnering with my colleague and friend, Congresswoman Robin Kelly.

Mr. Speaker, tonight they are our voices of the future. Tonight they had the courage to come and manage time on an issue that we think, as members not only of the Congressional Black Caucus, but of this Congress, being the conscience of this Congress.

Hopefully, it will make a difference in this Chamber as we proceed forward.

Thank you again, Congressman Payne and Congresswoman Kelly. You are our voices.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 8 o'clock and 45 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Tuesday, February 3, 2015, at 10 a.m. for morning-hour debate.