Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, not since the Civil War has Congress operated under the constant threat of violence from some of its own Members, but here we are. That is the behavior that Mr. Gosar has encouraged.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, having watched so many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle incite and then express support for the insurrectionists who nearly killed us in this Chamber on January 6.

We cannot let the Republican Party make Congress the only workplace in America where violence against your coworkers is not a crime but a credential.

If we don't hold people like Mr. Gosar accountable, we will only embolden the worst people in our politics to bring their fever dreams to life.

That is why, today, we are standing up for the safety of our colleagues, for the safety of Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, and for the future of our democracy.

Madam Speaker, in early September, our communities in Westchester and Rockland suffered immensely in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, with flooded basements, damaged homes, and, tragically, lives lost. I witnessed the damage firsthand, touring some of our hardest hit communities and thanking our brave first responders, including the Village of Piermont Fire Department, whose marine diver unit rescued dozens of Rocklanders from the floors. I am devastated for all those impacted by this disaster, and I will not stop working until our communities have fully rebuilt.

The Piermont Fire Department responded bravely to over 30 emergencies within Rockland County. During the height of the storm, the Piermont Dive Team heroically assisted in multiple water search and rescue efforts. 22 cars were searched by Fire Department members in Rockland, including a dive operation in the Village of Spring Valley on a car that was submerged in 7.5 feet of water.

While the Dive Team responded to water rescues, other members of the Piermont Fire Department responded to emergencies such as flooding conditions, roadway hazards, downed trees and wires, and an unmanned boat throughout Rockland County. The rescue teams went to Sparkill, Tappan, and West Nyack to respond to vehicles in the water with trapped victims inside. All victims were rescued safely thanks to the heroic efforts of the Fire Department volunteers.

Many lives were saved by the brave volunteers of the Piermont Fire Department. Our community is forever grateful for their tireless work to keep us safe. I would like to recognize and thank the following people for their bravery: Chief Samuel Kropp, Jerry Albes, Daniel Albin, Donna Alise, James Alise, Mya Alise, Andrew Baez, Alan Bartley, Mike Bettman, Amy Blomquist, Mark Blomquist, Frank Bockowski, Larry Cabrera, Mark Carlucci, William Cavanaugh, Joan Chadwick, Bernard Comiskey, Phil Esnard, Elizabeth Fagan, Kevin Fagan, Alexandra Gatti, Nick Gatti, Candace Goswick, Daniel Goswick Sr., Daniel Goswick Jr., Hope Goswick, Erika Gould, Donald Hardy, Donna Hardy, Chris Healy, Bill Hickey, John Hickey, Patrick Krummack, Reese McNichol, Nathan Mitchell, Stephen Moscatello, Ernie Nieves, Julie Pagliaroli, Joseph Palkovic, Tim Piesco, Dennis Plunkett, Max Reiter, Chris Sanders, Mary Saunders, Michael Saunders, Richard Scully, Samantha Scully, Brandi Silva, Scott Silva, Al Sisolak, Matt Stevenson, Santina Stevenson, Tim Temple, Tom Temple, Chris Ward, Kyle Weiss, and Noah Weiss.

Madam Speaker, a few weeks ago, the far right, a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court, quietly overturned Roe v. Wade.

Today, we pass the Women's Health Protection Act to restore reproductive freedom nationwide and protect fundamental rights that the Supreme Court will not.

These justices will do whatever they can to erase reproductive rights. So we

must also restore balance to the Supreme Court by adding seats. The American people agree. Not just 90 percent of Democrats, but 61 percent of Independents.

Until we end the domination of the far-right majority, reproductive freedom will never be secure.

Madam Speaker, 8 years ago the Supreme Court demolished the Voting Rights Act, in the deluded, dangerous belief that we had somehow overcome white supremacy and no longer needed the greatest achievement of the Civil Rights Movement.

The next day, States began making it harder for Black and Brown Americans to vote, initiating the biggest wave of racist voter suppression since Jim Crow. But today, we act to restore the Voting Rights Act. We also act to reverse the Supreme Court's recent assault on the right to vote by passing my bill with Representative Ruben Gallego, the Inclusive Elections Act, which is part of this package.

Having said that, let us be clear-eyed about how we got here and the threat that remains. The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act will not be safe so long as six far-right justices of the Supreme Court stand ready to destroy our democracy.

Madam Speaker, in September 1972, during the Munich Olympic Games, the terrorist group Black September murdered 11 members of the Israeli Olympic Team. The victims became known as the Munich 11. Their names were David Berger, Ze'ev Friedman, Yoseff Gutfreund, Moshe Weinberg, Yoseff Romano, Mark Slavin, Eliezer Halfin, Yakov Springer, Andre Spitzer, Amitzur Shapira, and Kehat Shorr. They were athletes and coaches at the 1972 games. May their memory be a blessing.

The international community was deeply affected by the attack, and memorials have been placed around the world, from Rockland County, New York to Tel Aviv, Israel. The Jewish Community Center (JCC) Maccabi Games have included a memorial tribute to the Munich 11 at the opening ceremonies of every JCC Maccabi Games since 1995. When the JCC in Rockland County, located in my district, hosted the Maccabi Games in 2012, the Center decided to take up this cause.

JCC Rockland created an online petition calling on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to hold a minute of silence at the 2012 London Olympic Games, which was denied. But soon, the JCC began to find success. At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, a memorial service in honor of the Munich 11 was held inside the Olympic Village. Further, the IOC established that a memorial service in their memory will be held at every future Olympic Games.

Starting with the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, Ankie Spitzer, the widow of fencing coach Andrei Spitzer, and Ilana Romano, the widow of weightlifter Yossef Romano, have gone to nearly every Olympic Summer Games. They have been leading the effort on behalf of the families to memorialize the Munich 11 at the opening ceremonies for the past 49 years.

After tireless advocacy from Ms. Spitzer, Ms. Romano, and JCC Rockland, the Munch 11 finally received a minute of silence during the opening ceremony of this year's Tokyo Olympic Games.

It is my hope that every future Olympic Games opening ceremony includes a moment of silence to commemorate the gravity of this tragic event for all Olympians and humankind. The Olympic Games serve to send a message of hope and peace through athletic competition, and reject and repudiate terrorism as antithetical to the Olympic spirit.

Madam Speaker, I would like to address my remarks to President Biden.

Mr. President, as you rightly said in Philadelphia this month, we face the most dangerous threat to free and fair elections in our history. To meet this threat to our democracy, we need only do what is plainly possible: Use our majorities to pass the For the People Act.

But we cannot succeed unless you call for abolishing or reforming the filibuster.

You have urged the American people to be, ``clear-eyed about the obstruction we face.'' Well, that obstruction comes not only from Republicans, but also from Members of our own party.

I know that you do not have a voice in the Senate. But you do have a voice, the most powerful on the planet. Unless you use it to lead, the Senators who stand in the way of democracy will continue to do so.

The truth is, Mr. President, we can't just out-organize partisan gerrymanders. We can't just out-vote a party that is committed to overturning elections whose results they don't like.

And we better not ask Black and Brown voters to do twice as much to save our democracy, when we in Washington cannot be bothered to do half as much as we should.

We need new laws and we need your help to pass them.

Mr. Speaker, people in suburban communities benefit from convenient, reliable public transportation to urban areas. It allows them to move to more affordable neighborhoods while maintaining access to the economic opportunities in the city.

This is evident in part of my district, where a one-seat ride on the east side of the Hudson River in New York makes it easy to get off the roads and commute by train between Westchester County and New York City.

Unfortunately, Rockland County, on the west side of the Hudson, lacks direct rail service to the city, making the commute deeply inconvenient and the area a more challenging place to live.

My amendment would commission a study on the economic benefits of one-seat ride commuter rail service between urban and suburban communities. This study would help Federal, State, and local governments plan for expansion of direct rail service to communities like Rockland County and identify areas where improvements are not only feasible but necessary.

I urge support for my amendment because communities like Rockland deserve convenient, reliable public transportation to urban areas like New York City.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to my Republican colleague's amendment mandating a study before the bill can go into effect.

This is not an earnest attempt to look into the Supreme Court's impact on age discrimination cases. It is a delay tactic and nothing more.

We know that age discrimination happens. In fact, not long ago, we heard compelling witness testimony in the Education and Labor Committee highlighting the need for this very legislation.

Ageism is one of the most common and, sadly, most accepted forms of discrimination in the workplace. Last year, the EEOC received over 14,000 age discrimination complaints, accounting for over 20 percent of all discrimination charges filed in this country.

This is a problem that impacts not just workers but our entire economy, and it particularly harms women and people of color. According to the AARP, nearly two-thirds of women and more than three-quarters of Black workers age 45 and over say they have seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace.

We don't need a study to tell us that a substantially higher burden of proof for some forms of discrimination makes it more difficult for workers who can prove discrimination to get their day in court and to prevail. That is just common sense.

What we need is a return to a mixed-motive standard, which says that any consideration of age, as opposed to ability to perform a job, is impermissible in employment decisions.

We can look at two cases that were proceeding under a mixed-motive standard but were dismissed following the Supreme Court's precedents. Courts dismissed both of these cases on the grounds that the facts, which were sufficient under a mixed-motive standard, were no longer sufficient under the heightened but-for standard.

First, there is the case of Jack Gross, an older gentleman who had been demoted after refusing a buyout when his employer underwent a merger. As he and many older workers were demoted,

his younger colleagues received promotions.

Mr. Gross challenged his demotion under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and won his case at trial under the motivating factor framework. However, after the Supreme Court changed the rules and required him to retry his case under the new and more stringent but-for causation standard, he lost despite the fact that he had proved the same set of facts with the same parties in the same courts as before.

Second, consider the impact of the Nassar case on anti-retaliation claims under the Civil Rights Act. In the case of Shumate v. Selma City Board of Education, an elementary school cafeteria worker alleged that she had been passed over for promotion due to having filed earlier discrimination claims, and that those claims had been discussed by the interview panel.

The district court denied the employer's motion for summary judgment on her retaliation claim. However, the Nassar decision was issued a few months later and the employer moved for reconsideration under the new causation standard. This time, the district court dismissed the worker's retaliation claim and granted summary judgment to the employer, stating that, ``the Supreme Court has changed the rules since then.''

Same facts. Same case. Different causation standard, and a win was turned into a loss.

The Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act reinstates the legal standard for proving age discrimination and aligns it with the existing standard for proving discrimination based on sex, race, or national origin.

Mr. Speaker, there is simply no excuse for discrimination of any kind in the workplace, and there is no reason to delay this legislation any further. We have already had a 12-year delay in restoring justice.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject the Allen amendment and support the underlying bill.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I was a sophomore in high school when Congress gave the green light for war in Iraq. Nearly 20 years later, I am here as a freshman Member of Congress, urging my colleagues to repeal that authorization.

For over half my life, Republican and Democratic Presidential administrations have used the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force as a blank check for war and the justification for aggressive military actions in the Middle East.

Young people today have never known a time when our country was not fighting overseas or conducting strikes on poor and Brown nations. It is time for that to stop.

The American people are tired of endless wars. We need a more peaceful and productive foreign policy grounded in diplomacy and human rights, and we, finally, have an administration that agrees.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, as we near the beginning of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is long past time to confront what my colleague and dear friend, Representative Meng, has described as the additional pandemic of hatred, violence, and discrimination against our Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.

Madam Speaker, I am proud to support the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act today.

I would like to address our AAPI communities directly: I cannot know exactly what you are feeling in this moment, but as an openly gay Black man in America, I know what it is like to be marginalized and to be harassed because of who you are.

I turned 34 years old today, and while the end product may look okay, there is a lot that I carry with me. I know what it is like to feel both invisible and exposed, both unseen and targeted. I know what it is like to have to fight for rights that you should just be able to take for granted. And I know that in the United States of America no one should ever have to feel this way.

So what I want the AAPI community to know is this: As surely as the Earth revolves around the Sun, I will be with you always because we can only get through this together.

Madam Speaker, due to personal reasons, I was unable to record my vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 138.

Madam Speaker, the American Rescue Plan is the most transformative economic legislation for working families in a generation.

Our expansion of the child tax credit will literally cut child poverty in half. But unless we make the expansion permanent, we will find ourselves a year from now in the same dire straits that existed before the pandemic: A country where we accept that 11 million people live in poverty, nearly 15 percent of all children in this country; a country where we accept that 25 percent of Black children live in poverty.

I have been in Congress for 5 months and I am already tired of having to vote to reauthorize things that we know should be permanent. Expanding the child tax credit is a moral and economic imperative. It should not have an expiration date.

For the last year, we have talked about the impossible choices that families have been forced to make: childcare or healthcare; food or rent.

The reality is, these impossible choices existed for millions of families before the pandemic began, and they will continue to exist after the pandemic is over. Poverty is a choice that we make here in this Chamber, and we can choose to end it.

Mr. Speaker, I have had enough of my colleagues' * * * insinuations that somehow the people of Washington, D.C., are incapable or even unworthy of our democracy. One Senate Republican said that D.C. wouldn't be a ``well-rounded, working-class State.'' I had no idea there were so many syllables in the word ``white.''

One of my House Republican colleagues said that D.C. shouldn't be a State because the District doesn't have a landfill. * * * *

The truth is there is no good-faith argument for disenfranchising over 700,000 people, Mr. Speaker, most of whom are people of color.

Mr. Speaker, there is no good-faith argument.

Mr. Speaker, that is fine. You have my consent to withdraw.

Mr. Speaker, the truth is, there is no good-faith argument for disenfranchising over 700,000 people, most of whom are people of color.

These desperate objections are about fear--fear that, in D.C., their white supremacist politics will no longer play; fear that, soon enough, white supremacist politics won't work anywhere in America; fear that, if they don't rig our democracy, they will not win.

Today, Democrats are standing up for a multiracial democracy, to democratize all 51 States in this country.

Madam Speaker, my amendment makes a simple change that would help improve the development of workplace violence prevention plans required under H.R. 1195, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act.

As you know, our Nation's nurses, social workers, and other caregivers suffer from workplace violence injuries at far higher rates than any other profession. In fact, these workers are nearly five times as likely to suffer a serious workplace violence injury than workers in other sectors, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The underlying legislation would require employers within these sectors to develop and implement a workplace violence prevention plan to reduce the incidence of injuries and create safer working conditions for their workers.

In order to ensure that covered employers in the healthcare and social service industries develop thoughtful and comprehensive workplace violence prevention plans, my amendment clarifies that employers are able to outreach to experts and specialists who lead in the issue of workplace violence.

Healthcare and social service workers have unique needs and face many difficult challenges in the workplace.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a letter of support for H.R. 1195 from the CEO of AIHA, Mr. Sloan.

Madam Speaker, I swear, sometimes I stand in this Chamber and feel like I am in the Twilight Zone, listening to a number of my Republican colleagues espouse white supremacist ideology to denigrate our wonderful Dreamers.

I am over here standing with a clear understanding that this bill does not go far enough.

I want to share the story of a constituent of mine, Mr. Paul Pierrilus, of our Spring Valley, New York, community, who was deported to Haiti, a country where he had never even been, in apparent defiance of the President's 100-day executive order.

We need a bill that goes further. I am going to vote for this, but we need a bill that goes further, that forgives people who make mistakes.

Mr. Pierrilus, in his case, made a mistake in his early 20s. We need a bill that allows him to return home, and I am going to be fighting for that moving forward.