Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, make no mistake about it, extremists in this Congress are trying to hold us hostage. Republicans have given us a ransom note: choose between wrecking our economy or wrecking our families; lose jobs and retirement funds or inflict cruel pain on American families.

More children will go to bed hungry. More women will die during childbirth. More parents will be without childcare. More neighborhoods will be without police. There will be more evictions, more drug overdoses, more veteran suicides, and more carbon in the air. There will be more misery.

Make no mistake, Republicans are willing to sacrifice Americans in order to protect tax cuts for the very wealthy and for big corporations.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, a profound and significant event in history that demonstrated the extraordinary resilience and defiance of the human spirit in the face of evil, hatred, and genocide.

In April of 1943, German forces entered the Warsaw Ghetto with the intention of relocating thousands of Jews to concentration camps, where they would face near-certain death. They were met by hundreds of courageous Jewish fighters, many of whom were just teenagers, who chose to stand their ground and resist despite having limited military training and weaponry. Led by the 24-year-old Mordecai Anielewicz, these brave individuals remarkably pushed back the Germans, forcing them to retreat outside the Ghetto wall.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising became the first urban--and first Jewish-- uprising in German-occupied Europe, inspiring uprisings in other ghettos in the region. The Jewish fighters and their supporters held the Germans at bay for nearly a month, displaying unwavering courage and determination in their struggle for freedom and dignity. Eventually, the Germans burned the Warsaw Ghetto to the ground, killing 13,000 Jewish men, women, and children, and sending the remaining survivors to death camps.

Mr. Speaker, as we gather here today to remember and honor those who courageously stood against the overwhelming force of the Nazis, let us also reaffirm our commitment to the values of tolerance, justice, and human rights. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of standing up against tyranny and oppression, no matter the odds, and highlights the power of unity and the indomitable will of the human spirit.

Today, it is our duty to ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust are never forgotten, and that we pass on the stories of those who fought and resisted to future generations. I ask my colleagues in the United States House of Representatives to join me in honoring the remarkable bravery of these Jewish fighters, and in remembering their memory, we are reminded of the importance of remaining steadfast in our commitment to justice, equality, and the protection of human rights for all.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise as a mother who went to many parent-teacher meetings and a few sessions with the principal, and a grandmother who just loves to see my own child's engagement in my grandchildren's education.

Today, the Congressional Republicans are mimicking my home State, Florida's extreme, rightwing, cruel policies.

Alarmingly and sadly, in Florida, today, lawmakers are banning books. They are threatening to jail teachers. They are bullying LGBTQ+ students, and they are suppressing history.

In Florida, a teacher can actually go to jail for putting a book about Rosa Parks or the Holocaust on a child's table. Teachers can be fined for comforting a gay child who is being teased for her gender. Schools can lose funding if they promote diversity or they teach Black history.

Really?

Mr. Speaker, parents want guns banned. They want their children to feel nurtured. They want their teachers to be paid well.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my great colleague from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore) for yielding and for organizing this session tonight. I am happy to be with all of my colleagues who are here tonight, also.

I am very proud to be a Congresswoman in one of the most diverse Congresses in our history. It is the most diverse. We now have 94 Democratic women. We even have quite a few Republican women, which is great.

Listen, I am here as a mother and grandmother as we celebrate Women's History Month. It is a time to reflect on the historic gains women have made and reclaim our efforts as we march to equity.

This is a time that we pay tribute, sister--I will call you sister; I feel like you are my sister--to the strong, fearless, and selfless women who paved the way for us all.

When I think about it, just about every one of us here was first at something, but we know we are not going to be last. We are first but not last. In that regard, I am going to do a couple of shout-outs.

I want to shout out to our Vice President, Kamala Harris, the first woman Vice President of the United States, who, of course, graced our Senate.

I want to shout out to the first woman of color ever elected to this Congress, Patsy Mink, who was the first Asian American and also the author of Title IX, which has meant so much for women to advance in education.

I am also going to do a shout-out to someone who was one of my very good friends, who I miss already as she retired last year, and that is Lucille Roybal-Allard, a very proud California Member, the first Mexican-American woman to be in Congress.

It is not really their ethnic identity that I think about. Because I got to serve with Lucille Roybal-Allard, I remember her grit, her determination, the first woman of color cardinal in charge of an Appropriations Committee subcommittee and a lot of battles as chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee.

I want to tell you what she left. She left a quote: ``One thing that I hope is that the people that I have represented over the years know that I have worked as hard as I possibly could on their behalf and that I served them honorably and that, hopefully, I made a positive difference in their life.''

I will tell you this, Lucille Roybal-Allard, if you are listening to this: You made a positive difference in many, many people's lives.

Now, Mr. Speaker, let me talk about someone who is a personal heroine of

mine, Bella Abzug. Bella Abzug, what a trailblazer. We know her for her hats. She always wore a hat. She was a giant of the women's rights movement, whose shoulders we all stand on today. ``Battling Bella'' as she was affectionately known, was on the front line of every issue of her time.

She was born to Russian immigrants in the Bronx, and even as a young girl working in her father's butcher shop, she knew she wanted to be a lawyer. She went to Hunter College where she was on the student council, and then set her sights on Harvard, but the school had other thoughts. They ultimately rejected her because of her gender.

Columbia University was much more astute and she earned her law degree there. She became a lawyer at a time when very, very few women were practicing law. She defended Black clients in the South. She dedicated her time to fighting labor rights, tenant's rights, and civil liberties. She worked with the ACLU and the Civil Rights Congress.

She marched for equal rights, feminism, environmentalism, and the LGBTQ+ community. She organized the Women's Strike for Peace in the 1960s. She brought together tens of thousands of women across America to protest nuclear testing and the Vietnam war.

In 1970, decades into her career, she was elected to the Congress where she served until 1976. In these Halls, she introduced bills to remove troops in Vietnam, she fought for the equal rights amendment, access to abortion care, funding for childcare, and gay rights.

She led the charge to make it illegal for credit companies to discriminate against applicants based on the basis of sex, race, religion, and marital status or age. Believe it or not, sister, there was a time that women couldn't even get credit in their own name.

Outside of Congress, Bella founded the National Women's Political Caucus with other feminist icons: Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm, and Gloria Steinem.

Bella Abzug was a true force to be reckoned with, a passionate and compassionate leader who wore many hats--literally and figuratively-- and fearlessly stood up for her values regardless of political consequences.

She once said of herself, sister--and I think her description probably describes a lot of the women in this room tonight. She said: I have been described as a tough and noisy woman, a prizefighter, a man hater, you name it. They call me ``Battling Bella,'' mother of courage.

There are those who say I am impatient, impetuous, uppity, rude, profane, brash, and overbearing. Whether I am any of these things or all of them, you can decide for yourself. But whatever I am, and this must be made very clear at the outset, I am a very serious woman.

She was a woman to be taken seriously, and she did not back down from the biggest fights of her generation. She did not give up creating a better world for her children or her children's children. As women Members of Congress, looking back on her legacy, we take courage from her actions, and we will continue to fight, to build the equitable world that she dreamed of.

Bella never backed down and neither will we.

Mr. Chairman, my, my, my. If you want to talk about protecting speech from government interference, let's talk about my home State of Florida because nowhere in this country is free speech more endangered than in the Sunshine State.

Florida: Where Republicans are erasing Black history and gender studies from our schools; where Republicans are threatening teachers and librarians with jail time--jail time--if they put books on their shelves that celebrate the likes of Rosa Parks or Roberto Clemente; Florida, where Republicans have made it illegal--illegal--for businesses to promote a culture of diversity, inclusion or respect; Florida, where progressive thinkers are being fired from colleges, and rightwing donors are being appointed to their boards.

It is Florida where Republicans actually punished Disney World because Disney World opposed the State's homophobic legislation. It is the great State of Florida where free speech is only free if you agree with our governor.

If you want to talk about protecting free speech from government interference, let's talk about Florida.

Mr. Speaker, let me, just for a start, say that hatred and discrimination against any marginalized community are wrong, whether it be an ethnic minority, LGBT, a person with a disability, and women and girls.

Today, I want to focus on something that is personal to me.

My family was blessed. My grandfather came over to this country from Poland just before the rise of Hitler, and he saved his brothers and sisters by bringing them over. Too many people were not so blessed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today and start my comments by saying, ``never again,'' as I address the growing concern of anti-Semitism in my home State of Florida and across the country.

This rise in anti-Semitism is deeply concerning, particularly given the lessons of the Holocaust, where we lost 6 million Jews and millions of others who were murdered by the Nazis in one of the worst human atrocities in the history of the world. These were precious lives who were tortured, gassed, shot, and treated as less than human.

It is terrifying that we find ourselves today having to defend the fact that it even happened. So we say ``never again'' to remind the world that we just didn't wake up one moment to gas chambers and genocide; it was a slow and deliberate effort, dehumanizing Jews and others, fomenting fear and normalizing extremism and prejudice.

Today, Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism is on the rise. Incidents of anti-Semitism reported--and this is just reported--to the Anti- Defamation League have risen by 34 percent in their last report. There were over 2,700 incidents that were reported in a year: Harassment, assaults, Molotov cocktails thrown at synagogues, defacing Jewish cemeteries, I could go on and on. The point is, it is clear that anti- Semitism is real.

In my own community in Palm Beach County, which is home to tens of thousands of Jews, this past January there were Nazi symbols projected on buildings and hundreds and hundreds of anti-Semitic flyers thrown into the yards of people.

Mr. Speaker, I say what should we do? What must we do?

Combating anti-Semitism is everyone's responsibility. There is something for all of us to do to promote a more inclusive and respectful society.

Let me just give a to-do list. It is not necessarily inclusive, but some things that we should all take to heart.

Believe it or not, a significant number of our young people don't have any understanding of the Holocaust; and so, of course, education and awareness about the Holocaust and the history of anti-Semitism and the harm it causes, education is something that is very important.

All of us must speak out and condemn anti-Semitism wherever and whenever it occurs, whether it is using your voice, your Facebook page, your Twitter, writing letters to the editor. If you see something, you must say something.

We should be working with our great partners across different sectors and levels of government to combat anti-Semitism and protect our Jewish communities, partners like the ADL, the American Jewish Committee, and many others.

We have to keep our houses of worship safe, not just synagogues, but churches and mosques. People must be free in this country to go to a house of worship and feel safe.

We must support the laws and policies that protect people and communities from discrimination, extremism, hate crimes, and improve hate crime reporting and prosecuting hate crimes.

Mr. Speaker, let me just refer to a magnificent hero in my community, Ben Ferencz, the last living Nuremberg prosecutor, who tells us that creating a world of tolerance and compassion would be a long and arduous task, a task we must all take up in words and actions.

Mr. Speaker, we must build bridges between different communities through dialogues and collaborations that can help to reduce prejudice and foster mutual respect, and it means standing against hatred aimed at other often marginalized groups.

And we must protect the safety and security of Israel, the homeland of 46 percent of the world's Jews.

As I conclude my remarks, I want to highlight the story of Ben Ferencz, a magnificent hero from my community.

Ben, who at 103 years old, is the last living Nuremberg prosecutor and was recently bestowed the Congress' highest honor, a Congressional Gold Medal.

As World War II engulfed Europe, after graduating from law school, Ben enlisted in the U.S. Army.

He was transferred to a unit responsible for gathering evidence of Nazi war crimes.

He later took that evidence to the chief Nuremberg prosecutor, and at 27 years old, Ben was appointed the lead prosecutor of the biggest murder trial in the history of the world where he convicted 22 Nazi leaders for their roles in the deaths of over 1 million people.

Ben went on to spend his life pursuing peace and justice.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to mark the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the historic Supreme Court decision that gave women legal access to abortion.

Now, 50 years later, an extreme MAGA Supreme Court has reversed Roe, taking us to a new dark place in history; and now Republicans are racing full steam ahead toward a nationwide abortion ban, creating hardship and even death for pregnant women, and prison for their doctors.

To that, I say, my, my, my.

People, not politicians, should have the freedom to control their own reproductive destinies. On the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I rise to say that the American people want more freedom, not less; and that means the ability of each person to make the personal decision about their health, their lives, and their future.

Madam Speaker, my, my, my, here we go again.

First off, let's all condemn the violence on the streets of our country.

This resolution is a political ploy and a distraction from the violence that abortion providers and patients face every day.

Bombings, murder, arson; let's condemn these, too.

Madam Speaker, women across our country are being denied lifesaving care, and healthcare providers are being punished for doing their jobs.

Women deserve access to all forms of health services, including abortion and the freedom to make decisions about their health and their lives and their future without interference of politicians.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this resolution which sidetracks us from the real danger women and healthcare providers are facing today: The Republican agenda.

My, my, my. Here we go again. Republicans are racing full steam ahead to criminalize abortion nationwide.

Madam Speaker, the American people want women--not politicians--to make their own healthcare decisions, including those about abortion.

So as to this misleading and offensively named bill, let's vote it down. Let's say no to putting women's lives in danger, no to denying patients needing lifesaving care, and no to putting healthcare providers in prison for doing their job.

Madam Speaker, because I love my grandchildren, I reject the extreme Republican agenda, and I am standing here today with the Democrats for people to have the freedom to make their own personal decisions about their health, their life, and their future.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize Victor Stekoll's seventh grade class at the Green Acres School. In the class is my nephew Eric. Like Eric, his classmates work to earn respect, which is one of the most important characteristics and principles of the Green Acres School.

These students are challenged to live and learn with intellect and curiosity, determination, and joy because they want to make a positive impact on their school. These Green Acre students are off to a great start.

In fact, Mr. Stekoll's class is touring the Capitol today in order to learn more about our government and get an inside look at what it is like to be a Member of Congress.

I applaud these middle school students for showing interest in the important work of government. I expect, Mr. Speaker, that one day one of these students will be standing right here addressing the Chamber.

I say: Go Grizzlies.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. Alina Alonso, a distinguished and fearless health care leader. I thank her as she retires as Director of the Florida Health Department of Palm Beach County and wish her great joy on her next journey.

Dr. Alonso has served Palm Beach County for over 33 years, including as its Director of our Health Department for the last 13. Using her training in Bio-Chemical Terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction, she handled the first inhalation of anthrax case in recent U.S. history. More recently, Dr. Alonso selflessly guided our community through the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, setting up testing, treatment, and vaccination sites throughout Palm Beach County, working closely with local leaders, and reaching underserved areas.

Since becoming Director of the Health Department in 2009, Dr. Alonso has overseen the operations of one of the largest county health departments in the State of Florida. With over 720 employees, the Palm Beach County Health Department provides a full range of primary and preventative services to seven health centers located throughout Palm Beach County. Epidemiology, Communicable Disease Control, and Emergency Preparedness are a few Public Health services offered by the Health Department, making it a nationally recognized academic organization in a class by itself.

Dr. Alonso proudly combines her Cuban heritage and her experience and training in Mexico and Central America to stay active in patients' rights advocacy, minority health issues, cultural diversity, population health, and health equity. As an immigrant from Cuba, she has stated that being an immigrant was a push to keep reaching higher. Dr. Alonso has won numerous awards and recognitions in her many years of Public Health service. In March 2022, she was named one of USA Today's ``Women of the Year.''

Dr. Alonso's dedication to health care access and her service to the people of South Florida is truly admirable. I feel blessed to have worked with her and to get to know her beautiful heart and see first- hand her dedication and excellence. I am proud to honor her today, thank her for her service, and wish her the very best for a future filled with great health and happiness.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the third grade classes at Landon School.

In the class of Ms. Brown is my nephew, Jake, who, like his fellow classmates, works very hard to treat others with respect and honor.

That is one of the important principles of Landon because Landon holds firmly to the conviction that character matters, and they aim to graduate students who will positively impact their communities.

The Landon third graders are off to a good start, recently finishing a unit on the three branches of government.

I am honored they have asked me to join them over Zoom to tell them about what it is like being a Member of Congress.

I applaud Landon students for showing interest in the important work of serving in government, and I expect, Madam Speaker, that one day some of them will end up right here, speaking at the podium. Go Bears.

Mr. Speaker, I thank our distinguished Judiciary Committee chairman and Representative Karen Bass for their leadership on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, all of our children should have the opportunity to thrive. Getting them off to a good start in life is critical for their well-being, as well as for society as a whole. That is why prenatal care and safety for pregnant women are so important. It lowers the risk of complications that can affect the ability of a child to thrive and can have far-reaching impacts on their future.

Alarmingly, recent reports indicate that Federal prisons are not aligned with national guidance for the treatment of pregnant women, and in extreme cases, Mr. Speaker, women have been shackled to their beds during and after childbirth.

I think we can all agree that children should not be punished for their mother's mistakes or misdeeds. The Pregnant Women in Custody Act will strengthen and promote the health and safety of pregnant inmates, providing a national standard of care allowing children to have the opportunities they deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise as the designee for the gentlewoman of Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley), who is a great advocate for justice and women. I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Speaker, this amendment makes one addition to the bill to ensure that incarcerated women have access to essential postpartum healthcare and support.

The Pregnant Women in Custody Act includes a provision related to women who give birth while in custody or immediately prior to incarceration. This provision requires that women be given access to counseling services related to parental rights and family preservation.

The amendment will add an additional component to ensure women also receive counseling services related to postpartum care because we know that women are physically and emotionally vulnerable after giving birth.

This addition to the bill will help women navigate that often complex and difficult time period and ensure adequate access to healthcare.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, it really pleases me that we have this very good bipartisan legislation; and I know it is probably heartening to the citizens of our country that we can come together on important matters.

This is about the children. This is about getting children off to a good start so that they can thrive; so they can have opportunities for success; and there is nothing more important, really, than having good caregivers, their parents, especially their mom, who gives birth.

This amendment will make sure that women who have been incarcerated get the postpartum care that they need and that their children deserve.

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

Madam Speaker, I am very, very proud to rise today in support of this game-changing, historic bill, the Speak Out Act. I thank our Senate and House sponsors, Representatives Buck and Bustos and Senators Gillibrand and Blackburn.

Thanks also to the Committee on the Judiciary, to our staff, and to Becca Flikier in my office. Most especially, thanks to two very, very courageous women who may be with us today, Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky, who, against all odds, fought back against the abuse of powerful men and a powerful corporation and who have lifted the voices of women by leading efforts to stem the scourge of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace and civic society. Thank you to Gretchen and Julie.

Today, Madam Speaker, we will pass legislation that, in tandem with the no forced arbitration law, is aimed at stopping sexual abuse in the workplace and holding abusers accountable.

With all due respect to my friends on the other side, we are here to protect women from being raped, not States from being raped.

Current Federal law and most States allow employers and others to force nondisclosure agreements into employment and consumer contracts that silence survivors of sexual assault and harassment. These are known as forced NDAs, and one-third of our workforce is subject to them.

Madam Speaker, I have an example of one right here. I mean, for a layperson to look, I would just tell you, it is a bunch of gobbledygook. Nowhere would you know from reading this NDA, which is very typical, that it means if your boss rapes you, you can't tell a soul about it or you will be penalized.

Businesses are using these NDAs to cover up their dirty little secrets of sexual abuse that force survivors to bear the trauma in silence. It is not bad enough, Madam Speaker, that a survivor is humiliated, emotionally scarred, or physically hurt, that they have to quit their job or turn down a promotion or leave the field entirely. If they are forced to sign an NDA before a dispute arises, they must suffer in silence and not even be able to tell a spouse, a parent, or a coworker. If they do, they can be fired or disciplined or sued for damages and attorney's fees. That is crazy and that is unjust.

Forced NDAs punish the survivor and protect the perpetrator, who is set free to abuse and abuse and abuse again.

Today, we hold abusers accountable and change the culture of the workplace. Employers who were used to sweeping these stories under the rug will now be forced to stop toxic workplaces, sexual harassment, and sexual assault before it happens. This should lead to safer, more productive workplaces and a civic society for all.

The change couldn't come soon enough. It is not just the movie and the TV personalities we have read about that have been the victims of sexual abuse in the workplace. One in three women, disproportionately women of color, have suffered sexual harassment in the workplace. There are 71 million women in the workplace. That is millions and millions of women who have to endure this.

In our bipartisan Women's Caucus, we heard story after story from hotel maids raped by guests, waitresses pinched by their customers to earn tips, farmworkers assaulted in the field by their supervisors, a tech worker forced to date potential customers.

It doesn't matter whether you are a hotel maid, a farmworker, secretary, or CEO. People in all walks of life are being inappropriately touched, raped, and harassed by supervisors, coworkers, customers, and service providers. The Speak Out Act, Madam Speaker, will make these forced NDAs null and void.

Madam Speaker, it does not prevent a business from protecting its trade secrets, and it does not prevent giving the survivors an option to sign an NDA at a post-claim settlement if they choose.

So, folks, let's all say ``no'' to the dirty little secrets that promote sexual

abuse, ruin lives, and degrade businesses.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans alike, to vote ``yes'' on the Speak Out Act.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Paul and Betty Wilson, who are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary on November 3, 2022. Paul and Betty live in my hometown, West Palm Beach, Florida and are loved members of our community.

Paul and Betty met at a farm dance in the small town of Whiteland, Indiana. They planned a date that required an hour drive to meet up. On the way, Paul got a flat tire and was late. Betty thought he wasn't going to show up.

Paul not only showed up, he and Betty have been showing up for each other for 60 years. And along the way came five children, many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who fill their lives with joy.

I wish Paul and Betty a very happy anniversary and best wishes for many more blissful years together.