Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Cynthia Brown, a beloved board chairwoman of the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, serving for 8 years as a dedicated leader in her community.

Cynthia was an advocate for civil rights in the New Jersey Muslim community. She made history as the first Muslim to serve in the role of East Orange municipal clerk in the State of New Jersey, and her 52 outstanding years of service highlight her loving commitment to civic duty.

Cynthia was also a highly respected leader at her local mosque in East Orange and was among her community whenever she could as a mentor, advocate, and friend.

Throughout her life, Cynthia stood for justice and service, while meeting her community with compassion and devotion. Her impact, work, and voice will be missed by the people of New Jersey.

I am praying for the Brown family, the people she has touched, and her faith family.

On behalf of New Jersey's 10th District, I call upon our community to carry her legacy by leading with service and heart.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Joanne Rajoppi, the longtime Union County clerk who dedicated more than five decades to public service and passed away on Thursday, July 16, at the age of 78.

Joanne made history as Springfield's first female mayor, later becoming the first and only woman to serve as chair of the Union County Board of Commissioners. She served as Union County Clerk for 30 years.

Throughout her career, Joanne worked to modernize county government by expanding access to public records, improving election information, and creating new resources for residents throughout the county.

Joanne cared about our democracy and did the work of keeping it. That work is sometimes hard and thankless, but it is also important. Joanne knew that.

A six-time recipient of the National Association of Counties Achievement Award, Joanne's leadership and innovation left a lasting impact on New Jersey.

On behalf of New Jersey's 10th Congressional District, I extend my deepest condolences to Joanne's family, friends, colleagues, all of those who loved her so much, and all those whose lives she touched throughout her extraordinary commitment to public service.

May she rest in peace.

Mr. Speaker, I was absent from floor proceedings. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 223 and YEA on Roll Call No. 224.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate Davison Igbinosun for being selected by the Buffalo Bills with the 62nd pick in the 2026 NFL draft.

Davison is a graduate of Union High School and was New Jersey's top recruit in the 2022 high school football class. Davison began his college football journey at Ole Miss before transferring to Ohio State. There he developed into one of the Big Ten's top defensive backs and a pivotal player on one of America's strongest college football defenses.

In his three seasons at Ohio State, Davison started 42 of 43 games. He was a First-Team All-Big Ten selection in 2025.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of New Jersey's 10th Congressional District, I congratulate Davison as he continues to represent Union High School and embarks on his professional football career.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate Qaadia Roberts, the New Jersey Tenth's native and founder of She Is, Inc. She Is is a Jersey City-based nonprofit that empowers girls through mentorship, leadership, development, and community engagement that directly strengthens access to opportunity and workforce readiness.

Qaadia Roberts founded She Is because of the importance of instilling confidence and providing opportunities to build connections for young women.

Roberts was honored at the 2026 Black History Month Celebration with the Hudson County Positive Impact award, recognizing the decade of dedication she put in to local and State government with her nonprofit work.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of New Jersey's 10th Congressional District, I am wishing Qaadia Roberts and She Is the best as she continues to provide vital mentoring to young women and girls.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to stand alongside my colleague Congressman Tim Kennedy to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the Tops supermarket shooting in Buffalo, New York.

Ten people, ten loved ones, ten members of a community left home to run errands on what should have been a normal day. They showed up to Tops to buy groceries for their families. Like most of us, this was one of the last places they would ever think that they would be in danger.

That day, a white supremacist walked into a Tops supermarket and turned an average store on a day into a site of terror. This was racial terrorism. The shooter was radicalized by white supremacists on the internet to the point he livestreamed the attack.

It gets to the point where our Nation continues to see history repeat itself because we refuse to learn from the past.

Across the aisle, people refuse to accept that an 18 year old should not have access to a military grade firearm. They refuse to accept that when white supremacy is allowed and normalized on the internet, the consequences are devastating.

Buffalo is a painful reminder of the racism and gun violence crisis affecting all of our Nation. We are at the point where families live with the sound of gunshots as background noise and children are taught lockdown drills in school before they fully understand and learn algebra.

The worst part of it all is that our Nation has started to treat this like it is normal, like there is nothing we can do about it.

We cannot keep treating it like an inevitable part of American life, but if we only commemorate and remember names and cities without actions, we are disrespecting the families who wake up with the trauma of losing their loved ones every day. Thoughts without policy are not enough. The families in Buffalo should not have to watch us commemorate this tragedy year after year without meaningful change.

Tonight, we honor the victims of Buffalo. We stand with Congressman Kennedy who is their voice here. We mourn with their families. We condemn white supremacy and racially motivated violence that is showing its face far too often.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Lucia Ranieri for her victory at New Jersey's State wrestling championship.

Lucia made program history with her win, becoming the first Roselle Park high schooler to win a State title since 1953.

Lucia has had an amazing path to success. As just a sophomore, she is a two-time regional champion, district champion, and a two-time county champion.

Last winter, as a freshman, she placed third at the State championship, setting the stage for this year's historic win.

On behalf of New Jersey's 10th Congressional District, I am wishing Lucia the best as she continues to represent Roselle Park High School with strength and pride.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Patricia Guerra-Frazier for her appointment as mayor of Union Township in New Jersey's 10th Congressional District.

Mayor Frazier has made history, becoming the first Latina to hold this role. She has displayed her dedication to serving her community by focusing on improving the quality of life for Union residents.

Since being sworn in, she has focused on cultural investment, community parks, public safety, and development.

Mayor Frazier has also brought something very special to this role: her experience serving her community as a teacher for 23 years.

On behalf of New Jersey's 10th Congressional District, I congratulate our new mayor of Union Township, and I wish her all the best as she continues to serve Union.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Virginia for yielding.

I rise today to stand alongside my colleagues in honor of Black Maternal Health Week.

This time is about confronting inequities and downright racism in maternal care and ending our Nation's maternal health crisis.

Pregnancy should never cause a mother to fear for her life, but this is a reality for Black women.

We know the statistics far too well. In the United States, Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White women, and in New Jersey, Black women are seven times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White women.

The greatest tragedy lies in the fact that 80 percent of these deaths are preventable. These deaths are rooted in racism.

Many of the Black women in our lives can speak to hospital experiences where their pain was not taken seriously or their care was delayed.

For too long, the experiences and concerns about Black women have been cast to the side in our healthcare system. Today, they are being flat-out ignored.

This administration has directed programs to erase words like ``Black'' from funding applications. The question that my colleague Representative Summer Lee asked the Health and Human Services Secretary last week demands an answer: How can we solve the Black maternal mortality crisis, if we can't say the word ``Black''?

The silence is loud and intentional.

With every statistic, there are real human costs behind them, and when the concerns of Black women are written off, our voices are erased.

Behind every number is a family impacted forever. We don't want to be valued with words without that rhetoric being followed up with action.

Black women have been witnessing a coordinated and vicious assault on the foundations of our freedom and history. And there are moments when the weight of these disparities feels overwhelming, when the statistics feel relentless, and the stories feel too familiar.

But I think about the women who came before us, who fought for dignity in healthcare they were never meant to receive and who insisted that their lives were worth protecting even when the system said otherwise.

So along with my CBC colleagues, I will continue to bring attention to this crisis until our Nation starts to treat it like one. We will continue to demand action to close the health gap for Black mothers, expand access to prenatal and postpartum care, and confront the bias that exists in our hospitals today.

The time for intervention is now. We refuse to wait until another tragedy is added to the list.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor and remember the life of former New Jersey assemblyman and pillar of the New Jersey community, Alberto Coutinho, better know as Al Coutinho.

Born in my hometown of Newark, Mr. Coutinho was first elected as the 29th district assemblyman in 1997 at 27 years old. He was young, but he was already a central figure of New Jersey's Portuguese community.

He did so much good for so many. He was a public servant who fought for prison re-entry reforms, job creation, and expanding our parks. To many, he is remembered as a key organizer of the Portugal Day Festival.

When he wasn't serving the city in his legislative capacity, he was serving his community as a local soccer team coach. His love for the game also motivated his role as chairman and cofounder of the Ironbound Soccer Club, which is one of the many initiatives he led to promote amateur and semiprofessional soccer so our kids could grow in team building and work ethic.

I was heartbroken to hear of his passing in a car accident last month. My community was heartbroken too. I am praying for the Coutinho family and that our community carries his legacy by leading with passion and heart.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate Sophia Angelica for her work in empowering children through music, acting, and writing.

Sophia, a singer and songwriter from Argentina, uses her talents to advocate for human rights across the globe. She works closely with the United Nations and has traveled internationally to help combat bullying and discrimination.

Not only does she travel across the United States for her performances, but she also performed at the sixth Asia-Pacific Human Rights Summit in Taiwan.

By combining her vocal talents with her passion for activism, Sophia is making a remarkable impact on children across the world.

On behalf of New Jersey's 10th Congressional District, I congratulate Sophia for her impactful global advocacy. I hope she keeps doing what she is doing.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the fine gentlewoman of Virginia (Ms. McClellan) for anchoring tonight's Special Order hour to celebrate Women's History Month and to celebrate and speak truth tonight. I am glad to be standing here during Women's History Month right after Black History Month to celebrate specifically Black women.

Black women have always looked at this country and thought and asked: How can I make it better? They then fought for that ``better.''

When we weren't given a seat at the table, we made it our mission to bring a folding chair. We have always stood in the gaps. We have a long history of being first to take on the fights that others would not take on.

Looking at the pain and suffering among our families, neighbors, and friends, and deciding to step in to protect the vulnerable and speak out for the voiceless, especially when those in power won't fight for us. We fight for us.

We know our liberation is tied to the liberation of others: Black, Brown, immigrant, citizens, every race, every gender, all of us. We know that truth, and that is why there is continually so much effort put toward stopping us. Even if this very body in this very Chamber, Black women are under attack.

We are currently witnessing a coordinated and vicious assault on the foundations of our freedom and history. We are seeing the effects of reckless economic policies, forcing hundreds of thousands of Black women out of the workforce. We are watching Black women stripped of our healthcare and maternal care. With every statistic, there are real human costs behind them.

There are mornings that I wake up feeling exactly how they want us to feel: powerless, hopeless, angry, and tired. It is the example of the Black women leaders that came before me that remind me that we cannot back down. There is no progress through comfort.

Now is not the time to become complacent. Yes, we are tired. We are being pushed, but now is the moment for neck-deep courage.

Just last month I was in Selma for the remembrance of Bloody Sunday. A speaker referenced how in Exodus, Moses went neck-deep into the Red Sea before it was parted. He took the first step toward a raging ocean because he knew that his prayer to be liberated would manifest.

She spoke of how Harriet Tubman went neck-deep to wade in the water, facing the threat of death, because she knew that freedom was worth fighting for.

Mr. Speaker, the toughest fights to freedom require you to go neck- deep. Every generation must step up and ask: Are we neck-deep people? And one thing I know is that is who Black women truly are. I am saying it plain: Black women are under attack, but we are not going to be silenced or scared--not now, not ever.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate New Jersey 10th's very own Michael B. Jordan for his Oscar win this Sunday.

The Newark native won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his work in ``Sinners,'' making him the sixth Black man to win this award.

As an alumnus of Arts High School in Newark, this weekend was a celebration for the children of the New Jersey public school system, who all have the same potential for greatness as the actor they often see on the big screen.

In his acceptance speech, Jordan acknowledged those who came before him. I thank him for inspiring the future generations who will follow in his footsteps.

On behalf of New Jersey's 10th, I once again congratulate Michael B. Jordan and celebrate the excellence being fostered in our community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the leadership of President Acebo, the 13th president of New Jersey City University in Jersey City.

A proud Hudson County native and the first-generation son of Cuban immigrants, President Acebo grew up in Union City and now leads one of our State's most vital Hispanic-serving institutions. He is now the youngest president ever to head a public university in our State.

When he stepped into leadership, NJCU faced a $22 million deficit and a physical emergency. In less than 2 years, he stabilized the university's finances and restored confidence in an institution that serves working families across New Jersey-10.

Yet, his leadership goes beyond balance sheets. Under President Acebo, NJCU ranks number one in New Jersey for social mobility, expanding transfer access, and increased enrollment. It has reaffirmed its mission to make higher education affordable and accessible.

President Acebo's story reflects the very students who NJCU serves: resilient and rooted in community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy of Principal Terry Woolard, a dedicated leader in Essex County education for 34 years.

Terry served for decades as an educator in New Jersey. In the South Orange-Maplewood School District, he was first the director of information technology, then acting principal of the Alternative School at Montrose, and later an assistant principal at Columbia High School.

Terry was also the president of the American School Counselor Association for many years. In his most recent position, he was the principal of Hillside High School.

When he passed away in December, Mr. Woolard left a lasting legacy in each school community and organization where he served. Mr. Woolard believed deeply in the potential of every student and was known for his unwavering care for others.

We are also grateful for his contributions to the district and the impact left on the lives of New Jersey students.