Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good colleague from Chicago, Congresswoman Ramirez, for her incredible advocacy and her sharing and vulnerability in expressing her lived experience or sharing her lived experience in this Chamber.

I am proud to be the daughter of Palestinian immigrants. My father came to this country at 19 years old. He was the guy in the 1970s that would pull up his arms and say: Which watch do you want? He never felt any kind of human dignity ever in his life until he joined the Ford Motor Company and became a member of the United Auto Workers.

My mother, who was 3 months pregnant with me on the airplane here to the United States from Palestine, came here with an eighth grade education.

Both of them could have never imagined in their lifetime that their eldest daughter would be the first in the family to graduate from high school, as well as achieve a college degree, and then later become one of the first Muslim women elected to the United States Congress.

These are the stories that I wish people would share more about our immigrant neighbors. I want to uplift those stories--the resilience, the contributions of so many of our immigrant neighbors across our country, especially in my district.

I grew up in southwest Detroit where there are 20 different ethnic groups. It taught me diversity. It made me a better person to be able to be around that type of strength, all of the different stories that were so similar to my parents' stories.

What I also love about my current 12th Congressional District is you can go in a community, and it is a huge, beautiful African diaspora, a Caribbean community, an Arab community. All throughout my district, there is so much love, and so many of our communities with immigrants are centered on family.

However, this Immigrant Heritage Month carries a heavier weight as this administration continues to target our immigrant neighbors day after day.

It has been incredibly painful, not just for myself and immigrants in our country, but for the American people, to watch our immigrant neighbors being abducted by masked DHS agents, our children being torn from their parents and some even zip-tied, and our disabled seniors being left to languish in detention camps. The images have been horrifying.

I wish to highlight one story of Maykol Duarte. He was from southwest Detroit. He was in high school. He was a high school student with only a few credits away from graduation. He was racially profiled by local police and handed over to ICE. He was on his way to a field trip, Mr. Speaker, with his friends, and now he was torn away from his loving community and deported to Colombia.

These are real-life stories, heartbreaking consequences of policies of this administration centered on cruelty.

We must acknowledge and recognize that not all immigrant communities, though, are impacted equally. I wish to take time to express my deepest fear that we are looking away from the impact on Black immigrants, which is the fastest growing immigrant group in the United States. Today, more than one in five Black Americans are immigrants or children of immigrants. Many of them face a huge impact or harm within our immigration system. They are more likely to be detained, more likely to be deported, and more likely to be denied asylum and relief.

These figures are not accidental. They are systemic and stem from a racist administration that continues to target African and Caribbean communities with no end in sight. This administration continues to separate our families and strip protections from those who need it most.

I ask my colleagues to not accept this broken, inhumane immigration system that treats people differently based on their race and on their origin. We must fight for fairness, dignity, and justice for all.

This Immigrant Heritage Month and every month, we all must stand with our immigrant neighbors and share the stories. I know Congresswoman Ramirez shared her story, and I shared my story.

This is the American Dream. There is no such thing as the Canadian dream, the German dream. There is only the American Dream, and all of us need to remember that we are a nation of immigrants.

Mr. Speaker, from Detroit, Michigan, to Little Rock, Arkansas, every single one of our families deserves to be able to afford a home. We know we talk about how gas prices, groceries, and insurance are constant sources of stress for our families, but we know that housing costs can be the worst of them all.

The housing crisis has been many years in the making and it will take years to overcome, but this package is an important step toward addressing the affordability crisis. I am thrilled that our package includes the Housing Our Communities Act which is creating a competitive grant program to support a wide range of affordable housing planning and implementation activities for our local communities.

These grants will help increase affordable housing by supporting them in crafting housing plans, updating zoning codes, or speeding up housing inspections.

Cities like Detroit need zoning reform to create affordable housing and protect our neighborhoods from polluters, but that often doesn't happen without Federal financial support. The Housing Our Communities Act moves us closer to that.

Mr. Speaker, I urge our colleagues to support this and make affordable housing a reality for all of our communities.

Mr. Speaker, happy Juneteenth.

On Juneteenth, we honor and celebrate both liberation and perseverance. Juneteenth marks the moment when the promise of freedom finally reached the last enslaved Black Americans in Texas more than 2 years after emancipation had been declared.

As many of our residents across the country celebrate, we recognize the contributions of many of our Black communities whose labor, leadership, and sacrifices helped build this country.

We also remember the struggle for justice did not end on Juneteenth. Each generation has been called to continue the work of expanding opportunity, protecting civil rights, and ensuring that every person is treated with human dignity.

Juneteenth is a reminder that freedom must be more than a promise. It

must be reflected in our schools, our workplaces, our neighborhoods, and in our democracy.

Black neighbors need more than a day, Mr. Speaker. They deserve reparations. Let's celebrate Juneteenth, but let it be a reminder that, again, the future must include real results and real accountability for every family so they can thrive and a community can be valued.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, we must end the U.S. participation in the Israeli Government's violent assault on Lebanon.

Over 3,400 people in Lebanon have been massacred since the start of the Israeli apartheid government's brutal invasion and indiscriminate bombing campaign.

Children, Mr. Speaker, medics, journalists, schools, hospitals, churches, mosques have all been targeted by the Israeli Government. Critical civilian infrastructure and entire residential neighborhoods are systematically being destroyed.

More than 1.2 million people have been forced to leave their homes or be killed with the Israeli military telling them they will not be allowed to return.

Last week, Mr. Speaker, the Israeli Government issued a forced displacement order for all the areas south of the Zahrani River, declaring the entire vast region to a combat zone.

Mr. Speaker, that is 14 percent of all of Lebanon, home to hundreds of thousands of people of all faiths as well as over 300 cities and towns, including Lebanon's fourth largest city, Tyre.

That is 14 percent of the country told to either leave or die. This is not a national security, Mr. Speaker. This is an ethnic cleansing campaign. The Israeli leaders and the Cabinet members are open about this. Finance Minister Smotrich literally called for the annexing of at least 10 percent of Lebanon saying that the new Israeli border must be up to the Litani River.

Defense Minister Katz of Israel has openly stated that the Government of Israel plans to pursue an indefinite military occupation of southern Lebanon up to the river, even after the war is over.

The National Security Minister Ben-Gvir has proposed Israel to go even further to conquer and occupy Lebanese territory all the way north of the river.

These are not fringe figures. They are the Israeli security cabinet. They are most powerful decisionmakers in the Israeli Government.

Mr. Speaker, they have made it clear that their goal is to do to Lebanon what they did in Gaza. The Israeli military officials even stated that their aim is to implement ``the Gaza model'' in Lebanon.

I can go on and on in explaining this, but I think what is important to understand is the act of the psychological terror, putting leaflets all throughout Beirut threatening Lebanon with repeat of the remarkable success in Gaza. I want my colleagues to know that over the last 3 months we have already seen these horrific threats become a reality.

This Congress did nothing to save lives in Gaza. We must act now, though, to prevent the same fate in Lebanon. I want folks to know we are here because the United States is not a bystander to these war crimes. It is an active participant.

The Trump administration has engaged in unlawful and unauthorized participation in hostilities as part of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in violation of the War Powers Act.

The Trump administration is providing intelligence, coordinating strikes, and demonstrating overt command over Israeli military decisions, including green-lighting specific Israeli attacks and operations throughout Lebanon, including Beirut.

The President of the United States has, in his own public statements, over a period of months, asserted authority to approve, prohibit, condition, and direct specific Israeli military operations.

In one such example, the Israeli Government sought and was granted Trump's green light for its May 6 strike, the strike on Beirut, and coordinated with the U.S. in advance to coordinate with Israeli officials. Even Israel's State officials mentioned this and said it publicly. Even Israel's own public government state broadcasting station admitted it.

Not only is the Trump administration illegally participating in this violent campaign, but it is openly ignoring congressional oversight, Mr. Speaker, of the U.S. Armed Forces' involvement in Lebanon.

On May 7, Senator Welch and a number of Senators wrote to the administration requesting specific information about U.S. coordination with the Israeli strikes, about the Israeli strikes, and other actions that would violate the War Powers Act, including refueling, intelligence-sharing, targeting, and other assistance.

We all know the Senators have not received any answers, and the executive branch has not even tried to argue that the U.S. role in the Israeli hostilities in Lebanon complies with U.S. law.

Congress must reassert its constitutional authority, Mr. Speaker, and immediately vote to end the U.S. participation in the destruction of Lebanon.

I want to make one thing clear, though, and it is super important for my colleagues to understand. Section 5(c) of the War Powers Act makes it clear that the Lebanon War Powers Resolution only applies to U.S. Armed Forces engaged in hostilities. The resolution will not affect U.S. training and support of Lebanese Armed Forces or the routine protection of U.S. diplomatic facilities, neither of which is involved in hostilities.

The War Powers Resolution exclusively ends the U.S. participation and ongoing Israeli invasion of Lebanon. That is what this vote is about, nothing less.

The American people are tired. They are exhausted, exhausted of these endless wars. They are tired of hearing that we don't have money for healthcare and childcare, yet, here we are, U.S. bombs destroying hospitals and stealing the future of children abroad.

This vote on the Lebanon War Powers Resolution is a clear, moral choice. Do you stand with the Netanyahu government and Trump's endless war crimes, or do you stand with human life, peace, and justice?

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

I would like to know if Ms. Karam, a university student from the Christian village of Qlayaa in south Lebanon--she wasn't a terrorist. She was murdered on Monday. She was returning home after completing her exams at the Lebanese University in Beirut. Look it up. The Israeli bomb targeted her family's car, killing her alongside her brother, Tony, and her father, James, who is a dental surgeon in the community. He wasn't a terrorist.

Our country must stop aiding in these killings. To me, she was not a terrorist. She was a human being who should be alive today.

In the meantime, I include in the Record a May 29 article from Reuters.

[From Reuters, May 29, 2026]

Eleven Children Killed, Injured Every 24 Hours in Lebanon, UN, Says

(By Olivia Le Poidevin)

Eleven children have been killed or injured on average

every 24 hours in Lebanon over the last week, the U.N.'s

children's agency said on Friday, as Israel has expanded

strikes across the country despite a ceasefire.

Heavy Israeli strikes hit towns and villages in southern

Lebanon overnight on

Wednesday and into Thursday, after Israel declared a new

swathe of the area a combat zone. It also struck a building

in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Thursday.

A total of 77 children have been killed or injured in the

last seven days, UNICEF said, citing figures provided by

Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health. Since the ceasefire

began on April 16, 55 children have been killed and 212

injured, according to the agency.

UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires called for all parties to

fully respect the ceasefire.

``Under international humanitarian law, children and

civilian infrastructure must be protected,'' he said.

The ceasefire announced by Washington was meant to halt the

fighting that has raged between Israeli troops and Iran-

backed Hezbollah since March 2.

The U.N.'s World Health Organization also said on Friday

that the threat from the expansion of military activities

raised grave health concerns for the Lebanese population.

Since the ceasefire took effect, a total of 27 attacks on

healthcare facilities in Lebanon have been reported,

resulting in 25 deaths and 42 injuries, according to the WHO.

A total of 16 hospitals and 13 primary healthcare centres

have been damaged in attacks, it added.

``Eleven children killed, injured every 24 hours in Lebanon.''

Are those children Hezbollah? Are those children terrorists?

Right now, the War Powers Resolution that I have is if they are engaged in hostilities. If they are not engaged in hostilities--

It is very clear. This is about saving lives. They are able to stay there if they are not engaged in hostilities.

I think it is abhorrent every day that goes by where this Congress does not act, 11 more children would die or have serious injuries as a result of, again, us not pulling back any of the resources and so forth.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, section 5(c) of the War Powers Act, it is in there. You can just read it. It says if it is ``engaged in hostilities.'' If U.S. Armed Forces are there and they are not participating in this ethnic cleansing campaign, then they are fine. If they are there training the Lebanese Armed Forces, they are fine.

This is not what it is about. If you read the War Powers section 5(c), it is very clear. It is in writing in the law of the War Powers Act. It is really important that we understand and not get confusion.

I want to share a so-called, I guess, Amal Khalil. This is a photo of a very prominent Lebanese journalist. Amal Khalil, she was targeted and killed. Amal and her colleague Zeinab were reporting devastation in southern Lebanon when an Israeli drone struck her car near them, killing two civilians. Amal and Zeinab sought shelter in a nearby building, but Israel then struck the building, trapping them under the rubble. But it gets worse. It gets worse.

When rescue and medical workers finally arrived at the scene to rescue Zeinab, they came under fire before they could rescue Amal. They were prevented from returning to the site for hours, Mr. Speaker. Amal was dead by the time her body was recovered over 6 hours later. Amal is only one victim of many of the Israeli military's deliberate, indiscriminate bombings and targeting even of journalists in Lebanon.

Israel has killed 250 journalists and media workers across Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, even Iran. Our country should not be sharing intelligence and coordinating strikes with the military that hunts and kills journalists for sport.

We must end the U.S. support for this invasion.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Ramirez), my good colleague and one of the cosponsors of the resolution.

Strike those words.

I am hanging out with terrorists now?

That is a problem.

Here we go. Strike the last words now. Mr. Speaker, strike the last words.

That is a direct attack on my character.

I please request to strike the words down.

It was.

Mr. Speaker, I object. I object, Mr. Speaker.

I object, Mr. Speaker.

I object.

Mr. Speaker, let's get back to the debate.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), the ranking member of the Rules Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Omar).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Lee).

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Stansbury).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I think it is really important--you know, I said earlier about Defense Minister Katz not once does he mention Hezbollah. He said literally that we are going to destroy Lebanese homes and villages in accordance with Beit Hanoun and Rafah models in Gaza. I am not joking.

This is Finance Minister Smotrich. He literally threatened the major neighborhoods of Beirut will soon resemble Khan Yunis, a city in Gaza that was destroyed by the Israeli military.

Not one of them mentioned Hezbollah. They talk about greater Israel. They talk about a campaign to spread boundaries, again, with no regard of international law.

I want to put up the photo of Theodossia because she wasn't Hezbollah. She is not a terrorist. She was a young student that just finished her exams. It is disrespectful. If you really care about the Lebanese people, then you would understand the importance of not continuing, again, the indiscriminate bombings that are continuing throughout Lebanon. She should be alive today.

I think it is important, Mr. Speaker, to understand what is happening on the ground if you really care about the Lebanese people like you claim you care about the Iranian people. Everybody claims they care about everybody on the ground and that this is about security. It is not. I think it is important.

I include in the Record a March 25 article from the Guardian titled: ``Israel used white phosphorus to scorch earth in south Lebanon, researcher says.'' That is the title.

[From The Guardian, Mar. 25, 2026]

Israel used white phosphorus to scorch earth in south Lebanon,

researcher says

(By Damien Gayle)

When the M825-series 155mm artillery projectile bursts,

expelling its felt wedges containing white phosphorus, it

leaves a distinctive knuckle-shaped plume. That is how Human

Rights Watch (HRW) researchers said they were able to verify

that Israel was again using the notorious weapon over south

Lebanon, reigniting accusations that it is breaking the laws

of war.

The New York-based rights group said it had verified and

geolocated eight images showing airburst white phosphorus

munitions exploding over residential areas in the southern

Lebanese town of Yohmor in the opening days of Israel's

assault during the war on Gaza.

Since then, more videos have emerged purporting to show

white phosphorus munitions exploding over south Lebanon, and

researchers say that with 800,000 Lebanese people displaced

from the region after Israeli forces ordered them to leave,

many more uses may have gone undocumented.

In the last week, Israeli soldiers have been facing fierce

resistance from Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon, despite

an intense bombing campaign. In recent days, Israeli forces

have bombed roads, petrol stations, bridges and medical

centres in an effort to cut south Lebanon off from the rest

of the country.

White phosphorus is a chemical substance dispersed in

artillery shells, bombs and rockets that ignites when exposed

to oxygen, burning at up to 800C and emitting large

quantities of smoke.

Military forces use it as a smokescreen to mask troop

movements, mark targets or illuminate terrain at night, and

military lawyers argue such uses are entirely legitimate. But

its use over civilian areas is controversial--and some claim

illegal--because it ignites fires, causes serious burns and

emits toxic fumes.

Ahmad Beydoun, an architect and PhD researcher at Delft

University of Technology in the Netherlands, documented and

mapped nearly 250 uses of white phosphorus by Israeli forces

between October 2023 and November 2024, the last time they

launched a full-scale attack on southern Lebanon.

Beydoun, who said his count was a conservative estimate,

found that 39% of uses were in residential areas, 17% in

agricultural lands and 44% in forested or open terrain. ``I

think the Israeli army's thinking is that they use it to burn

down fields for visibility, so that people or Hezbollah

militants don't hide under the trees,'' he said.

According to a report by the Lebanese non-profit Public

Works Studio, white phosphorus was used to burn more than

2,000 hectares (4,940 acres) of southern Lebanese

countryside, ''including 873 hectares of dense forest with

gum trees and vast areas covered with oak and pine trees''.

White phosphorus can also lie hidden in the soil and

spontaneously combust when uncovered by farmers, posing a

continuing threat if the people of south Lebanon are able to

return to their homes.

And the effects can also be systemic, the report warned, as

repeated white phosphorus strikes saturate the soil with

phosphonc acid along with toxic heavy metals such as cadmium,

lead and zinc. Together, the report said, this accumulation

``can reduce microbial diversity, deplete soil fertility

[and] decrease agricultural productivity''.

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said it could

not comment on HRW's claim that it used white phosphorus

illegally over Yohmor. ``There may be visual similarities

between smoke shells containing white phosphorus and smoke

shells that do not, and caution is advised before making

factual determinations regarding use of smoke shells with

white phosphorus in individual cases based on visuals

alone,'' the spokesperson said.

Last week Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon,

reportedly avoided responding directly to HRW's allegations.

``We do everything we can to minimise civilian casualties,''

he said at a media briefing at the UN headquarters in New

York, according to Anadolu Agency. ``That's why we actually

asked the people from southern Lebanon, south of the Litani,

to move to the north, to avoid civilian casualties.''

Beydoun said his findings suggested Israel's military may

be using white phosphorus ``as a way to maybe start pushing

people out'' to create a ``buffer zone'' on the Lebanese side

of the border.

It's just a practical tool to use to burn fields, I think

it's mostly that,'' he said. ``It's mostly for scorching the

earth.''

Organizations such as Human Rights Watch have documented Israel's illegal use of white phosphorus multiple times in Lebanon, which is a war crime. They launched it in residential neighborhoods and Lebanese farmland.

Is this what our country is supporting?

White phosphorus is a chemical agent that ignites when exposed to oxygen and burns at up to 800 degrees Celsius, melting human flesh to the bone and poisoning the soil with toxic heavy metals. White phosphorus kills. It leaves survivors with cruel injuries, and burn results cause lifelong suffering.

The only place in the entire northern hemisphere right now that literally fills white phosphorus munitions is right here in the United States in Arkansas. We are supplying these horrific chemical bombs to the Israeli military, and our military is providing operational support, as we speak, for these scorched-earth campaigns that are destroying the very conditions of life in Lebanon.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about the human life in Lebanon more because I think it is important to understand. This is Hussein Wehbe. At least 128 medics--he was a medic, 17 years old--128 medics and other health workers have been targeted and killed by the Israeli Government since March, just as they have done in Gaza. They are often killed in what they call double-tap strikes.

American people don't understand this. Double-tap strikes are war crimes where following an initial strike, the Israeli Government comes in, waits for the emergency rescue workers to show up with the ambulances at the scene, and then strikes again.

In Lebanon, we have seen the Israeli Government commit triple-tap, quadruple-tap strikes, an atrocity previously unheard of where team after team of rescuers are completely slaughtered.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record an April 16 Guardian article titled: ``Israel escalates attacks on medics in Lebanon with deadly `quadruple tap.' ''

[From the Guardian, Apr. 16, 2026]

Israel Escalates Attacks on Medics in Lebanon With Deadly `Quadruple

Tap'

(By William Christou)

When they received the call to respond to an Israeli

airstrike in the city of Mayfadoun, in southern Lebanon, most

of the paramedics held back, having previously seen

colleagues killed by double-tap attacks targeting rescuers.

But the medics from the Islamic Health Association (IHA)

rushed to the scene.

By the time the other emergency workers arrived at the

site, they found the IHA medics had indeed been caught in a

second strike. They started evacuating their wounded

colleagues, only for their ambulances to be hit in two

further attacks.

In total, the attacks killed four medics and wounded six

more, from three different ambulance corps, according to

medical sources. Three of the medics were from the Hezbollah-

affiliated IHA and Amal-affiliated medical corps, while one

was from the Nabatieh emergency services organisation. Under

international law, all medics are protected and are

considered noncombatants, regardless of political

affiliation.

Rescuers in Lebanon have long been wary of the double-tap

attack, when Israeli forces target a location, wait until

people gather to help survivors, and then strike again.

Wednesday's three-wave attack after the initial one prompted

the coining of a fearsome new term: the quadruple tap.

In a video taken by one of the paramedics at the site,

rescuers are seen loading two wounded people into their

ambulances when a bomb lands next to their vehicle.

Paramedics rush to extract the driver, who is motionless and

limp as they pull him from the ambulance, which is splashed

with blood. ``Oh God, oh God,'' the man filming can be heard

saying. They carry two more blood-covered medics out of their

vehicle and on to stretchers.

Among the paramedics killed was Fadel Sarhan, 43, who is

survived by his eight-year-old daughter.

``Fadel was a very loved person. He had a bold personality,

but at the same time, he was emotional. He was well liked and

responsible,'' said Ali Nasr al-Deen, the head of the

Mayfadoun civil defence centre who grew up with Sarhan.

``He used to feed the cats and dogs. He would bring pet

food from Beirut so they wouldn't go hungry. He was that kind

of person, caring and attentive. It's a huge loss for us,''

said Nasr al-Deen.

Medics mourned their colleagues on Thursday at funerals in

Nabatieh, a city near Mayfadoun. Such events have become

increasingly common, with healthcare workers killed by

Israeli bombings on a near daily basis.

Mohammed Suleiman, whose 16-year-old son, Joud, was killed

while on duty as a paramedic by an Israeli strike weeks

earlier, joined his peers in burying another of his friends

on Thursday. A few hours after the funerals, Israel carried

out another wave of airstrikes on Nabatieh.

Israel has so far killed 91 healthcare workers and wounded

214 more in Lebanon since the Israel-Hezbollah war started on

2 March. It has given little justification for its repeated

attacks on medical infrastructure and workers, apart from

accusing Hezbollah of using ambulances and hospitals to

transport fighters and weapons, without providing evidence

for the claim.

The Lebanese ministry of health accused Israel of

deliberately targeting ambulance crews. ``Paramedics have

become direct targets, pursued relentlessly in a blatant

violation that confirms a total disregard for all norms and

principles established by international humanitarian law,''

the ministry said in a statement.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a

request for comment.

A video of Tebnine hospital from 14 April showed workers

trying to clear shattered concrete and debris from the

emergency department after a strike blew in the windows.

Commenting on the strike in Tebnine, the head of the WHO,

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: ``I reiterate the call for

the immediate protection of healthcare facilities, health

workers, ambulances and patients. There must be safe,

sustained and unhindered humanitarian access across

Lebanon.''

An ambulance in Tebnine was also struck on Thursday,

leading to the critical injury of two medics, according to

the Lebanese ministry of health. As healthcare workers

watched their colleagues and friends being killed by Israel,

the mental toll was becoming almost too much to bear.

``We have to go to places to rescue people, but then we get

double tapped,'' said Abbas Atwi, the head of the IHA's

emergency department in Nabatieh, shortly after a medical

centre was targeted in March, killing his friends and

colleagues. ``But we will stay and keep going, we will not

leave.''

Mr. Speaker, this is Hussein Wehbe again. He was a 17- year-old. He was a volunteer. He was a first responder with the Lebanese Civil Defense. He was also a Boy Scout. He was killed while trying to save lives.

The next person is Ahmed Hariri. He was also a paramedic and a photojournalist who was killed in a double-tap strike while trying to rescue injured survivors of an Israeli drone strike. He was killed alongside two fellow paramedics less than 2 days after the World Health Assembly passed a resolution calling for the protection of medical personnel in Lebanon.

This is what our country is supporting, Mr. Speaker. This is the military we are coordinating strikes with and providing targeting intelligence with, a military that systematically is targeting and killing civilians.

We must end the U.S. support of these war crimes.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The sheer number of human lives that have been lost already in Lebanon is close to 4,000. We are talking about over 1.2, 1.3 million people forcibly displaced. If you even just look at the map, if we put up the map right now, you can see that bombings are happening outside of where they are claiming that there are security issues.

It is important to know and please understand the impact of us allowing U.S., again, intelligence sharing, coordination, and support of this. I know some of my colleagues claim themselves that the U.S. is not militarily involved. I hear it all the time.

But the facts paint a very different picture that the Trump administration is engaged in unauthorized hostilities and violations of the Constitution and the War Powers Act of 1973.

It is important to understand that the Trump administration's actions of overt command and coordination over Israeli offensive military decisions in Lebanon arguably represent the most well-documented direct U.S. participation in a foreign military's engagement in hostilities in recent decades.

This U.S. role, Mr. Speaker, in the invasion of Lebanon includes ``green-lighting'' specific Israeli military operations in Lebanon, providing them with what is called approval and disapproval over whether they may proceed, a defining function of military command.

Mr. Speaker, on March 12, Israeli media reported that President Trump ``approved the ground incursion'' by Israel into Lebanon ``also authorized expanding it if necessary.''

Also, on April 8, Axios reporters said live on mainstream media: ``Without the green light from Donald Trump, you wouldn't have seen Israel go ahead with these very massive strikes in Lebanon,'' literally strikes that killed 250 people that day.

On May 6, Israel sought, and was granted, Trump's ``green light'' for its May 6 strike on Beirut, Mr. Speaker, and coordinated with the United States in advance, according to Israeli officials. Not us, but the Israeli officials are telling us that the Trump administration is helping them.

As recently as this week, Israeli officials told the press that the Israeli military's forced displacement order and threats to bomb Beirut's southern neighborhoods were coordinated with the United States.

These are elected officials by the Israeli Government making these claims. These are the sources.

This unprecedented public record of direct and overt U.S. command and coordination over Israeli hostilities in Lebanon goes alongside deep U.S.-Israeli operational integration, which the American people don't want.

Meanwhile, the White House continues to ignore congressional oversight efforts regarding the U.S. participation in these hostilities. We still haven't gotten responses to questions that we have. It is important to understand that the violations of the War Powers Act are very clear, as they were clear during the U.S. support of the Saudi-led war on Yemen.

Do you remember that, Mr. Speaker, the Saudi-led war on Yemen?

Both the House and the Senate passed War Powers Resolutions bipartisanly affirming that refueling Saudi aircraft and providing targeted intelligence to Saudi forces constituted U.S. participation in hostilities.

This case is no different. Congress must reassert its authority and cut off U.S. support for this cruelty and this destruction.

Mr. Speaker, when I see that child, I think of my son. Everyone wants to label people of my faith or people who look like me as terrorists. These are human beings. We cannot make them out to be disposable. We must save lives, no matter faith or ethnicity. We must stand against war crimes no matter who is committing it, no matter who it is.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to understand this is about our shared humanity. This is about ending, again, the mass destruction of Lebanon. We should not be playing any role.

Again, I think it is important to understand when we do that and label people a certain way that makes them to be disposable, it will lead to more international law violations of peoples' human rights.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, this week marks 61 years of Head Start, one of the most transformative antipoverty programs in our Nation's history.

For more than six decades, Head Start has given millions of children a fair shot by providing early education, meals, healthcare, and support for working families. It showed that every child, no matter their ZIP Code or income, mattered.

Today, Republicans have cut and chronically underfunded this program, threatening the lifeline for families across the country. Instead of investing in billionaires and endless wars, we should be investing in our children.

I am calling on my colleagues to support and pass our Head Start for America's Children Act, as we mark 61 years of this successful program.

This bill would expand access to 11 million more eligible young children nationwide. Eleven million children across our country are eligible, but there are not enough spots. We would also be raising wages for our educators and strengthening support services for our families.

Mr. Speaker, we all know that Head Start works, so let's invest in this program. It is an anchor, not only for the child but for the whole family.

Stand for Saving Lives

Mr. Speaker, over 3,000 people in Lebanon have been slaughtered since the start of the Israeli apartheid regime's brutal war on all of Lebanon.

More than 1.2 million people have been displaced violently. That is over 20 percent of Lebanon's entire population.

We cannot stay silent while innocent civilians are being exposed to white phosphorus bombs that melt flesh to the bone.

Inaction is not an option, Mr. Speaker. That is why I will be forcing a vote on the War Powers Resolution to end U.S. support of Israel's indiscriminate bombings in Lebanon.

We all know what doing nothing looks like, and we are witnessing right now a repeat playbook of the Israeli military's actions in Gaza. Entire families are being erased in Lebanon, villages and cities turned into rubble. Targeting of civilians has continued to be increasing, as well as the targeting of medics and journalists.

The United States is not a bystander to these war crimes. It is an active participant. Our government is providing intelligence and coordinating strikes, and the American people are tired of watching their tax dollars fuel death, destruction, and endless war. They are tired of hearing that we don't have money for healthcare or childcare at home, while watching U.S. bombs destroy hospitals and steal the futures of children abroad.

Mr. Speaker, this war powers vote is clear, and it is a moral choice. Do you stand for saving lives, or do you stand for endless wars?

Ending Child Poverty

Mr. Speaker, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, we have some of the highest rates of poverty among our children. As of 2024, more than 9.7 million children have lived in poverty in the United States. That is a 154-percent increase since 2021.

Imagine if our government invested in the well-being of our children like they invest in wars?

Congress has the power and the money to end child poverty today, feed every single one of our children today, and make sure that every opportunity that they need to succeed is available today.

Instead, we are debating $1 billion to Trump for a ballroom that no one asked for, while defunding and destroying Federal programs that help our children get fed, clothed, housed, and educated. The hardship, food insecurity, health issues, and instability that poverty causes is impacting families throughout my district and throughout our country.

Mr. Speaker, I am calling on my colleagues to support Representative Jacobs and my end poverty resolution and support the most vulnerable population.

Mr. Speaker, families across the country are struggling to afford groceries. The costs of eggs, milk, bread, baby formula, and fresh produce keep rising while giant grocery chains and corporate executives rake in record profits.

Some of the grocery stores are now using surveillance technology and digital labels to squeeze even more money out of working people.

It is shameful that corporations would raise prices on products that they know families need to survive. For me, this is corporate greed, plain and simple.

No parent, not one individual, should be able to walk into a grocery store wondering if they can afford to feed their families because an algorithm or private data that the grocery chains got decided they can charge them more.

That is why I introduced the Stop Price Gouging and Grocery Stores Act to crack down on crooked pricing practices and protect consumers from corporate abuse. Not one person who goes into a grocery store should worry about their private information being used to jack up their prices. We all deserve fair prices, transparency, and dignity, not exploitation at the grocery store.

Mr. Speaker, I am calling on all of my colleagues to please support me on the Stop Price Gouging and Grocery Stores Act.

Mr. Speaker, DTE Energy has a monopoly in my district. It is the primary source of utilities for gas and electricity for my residents. This is why it is critical and important for me to introduce the Make DTE Pay Act. It would substantially increase monetary penalties on utilities like DTE Energy when they seek customer rate increases within two preceding or following Clean Air Act violations.

Mr. Speaker, you might ask: Why?

It is because DTE was hit with more than $100 million in penalties for violating the Clean Air Act by a Federal judge. Within the same week, they got a $240 million increase in rates, and DTE Energy customers, our residents, already know we are paying some of the highest rates in the country for some of the least reliable services, all while DTE shareholders and executives get richer. Now we know DTE has, again, been hit by this violation. They turned around and put it on the consumers.

Corporate polluters like DTE treat breaking environmental laws as just the cost of doing business. It is insulting to every single family in my district that is being poisoned by the air they breathe because of this company, and they turn around and jack up our utility bills year after year.

That is why it is critical and important that we introduce the Make DTE Pay Act. I encourage my colleagues to understand the importance of this. This legislation forces utilities like DTE to make a choice: Follow the Clean Air Act or face real financial consequences when they try to raise rates on customers whom they have already harmed.

We have to change the math. Polluting our communities must be as bad for business as it is for our health. Our families deserve clean air, reliable service, and accountability, not excuses and higher bills.

Republican Redistricting

Mr. Speaker, Republicans are trying to drag this country back to a Jim Crow South where Black political power is stripped and our voices are stripped, silenced, and dismissed. This time it is not with the hoods but with maps and court rulings that do the same old work.

People might find this insulting, but it is very obvious why we need the Voting Rights Act. It is because they turned around and changed the map to dilute Black voices. With the help of the far right, extreme Supreme Court, they are dismantling voting rights across the South and targeting our Black neighbors who have bled, marched, and died for our civil rights.

The administration promised to make life more affordable. Instead, they have gutted our healthcare for millions, invested in death and destruction abroad, and used their fascist ICE army to tear apart our communities. They know these policies are not popular among the American people. That is why they are redrawing the maps. It is because it is the only way they can win.

I am from Detroit, the most beautiful, Blackest city in the country. Come there, Mr. Speaker. It is the most loving and most resilient community that you have ever met. That is where I learned to speak truth to power, even if my voice shakes.

When Black political power is attacked anywhere, then our democracy itself is under attack everywhere. We have seen all this before, Mr. Speaker, but like those who came before us, we will not be intimidated, we will not be silenced, and we will not back down.

Unhoused Persons

Mr. Speaker, right now, on any given night, in the richest country on Earth, nearly 771,000 of our neighbors are unhoused. One million children experience homelessness every year. Think about that: 1 million children. This is not accidental. This is a policy choice.

Every year, Congress passes another record-breaking military budget. We always find money for war and destruction, even though the Department of War hasn't passed eight audits in a row.

Somehow, we are told, there is not enough money to house our people. This is unacceptable. We know the truth. Congress has the money, and

Congress has the power to change that. What is missing is the political will to care deeply about those who maybe will have access to the same opportunities many of us had in this Chamber.

Housing is a human right. Our government has a responsibility to treat it that way. There will be no more excuses. We must act because our neighbors deserve a home and dignity, and we refuse to accept anything else.

Mr. Speaker, please join me in supporting the Unhoused Persons Bill of Rights resolution that lays out a real path forward, boosting affordable housing for so many of our communities, fully funding Federal housing programs, and expanding access to services for unhoused individuals. These are investments we need, and these are investments that the American people ask for.

Mr. Speaker, May 15, 2026, marks the 78th anniversary of Nakba.

The Nakba, which means catastrophe in Arabic, refers to the mass expulsion and violent ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from their homes and homeland during the creation of the State of Israel.

But we know the Nakba did not end in 1948. We all have witnessed it live. It continues to this day as the Israeli Government commits genocide in Gaza, forcibly displacing Palestinians and kicking them out of their homeland.

As we mark the 78th anniversary of Nakba, we honor all those killed since the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people began and all those who have been forced from their homes and violently displaced from their land.

The immense trauma, Mr. Speaker, including the loss of their loved ones and connections to their communities they grew up in, needs to be repaired. Seventy percent of the population of Gaza right now are refugees from 1948, and they are being displaced again. Over 400 neighborhoods in 1948 were destroyed and erased.

True peace must be built on justice and the right of the return of the Palestinian people.

Mr. Speaker, as we stand here, I know the community is trying to heal as we mark the over 4-year anniversary since 10 of our Black neighbors were targeted and murdered while grocery shopping at a supermarket in Buffalo.

I think it is important to understand there was intentionality here and how the killer chose the location. We all know their lives were stolen due to racism, extremism, and the unchecked epidemic of gun violence plaguing our country.

I always must ask this to my colleagues: How many more families need to mourn before Congress acts? How many more children need to lose their lives before we act?

Every day, people are killed by guns in mass shootings, domestic violence incidents, suicides, and preventable accidents. Entire communities are traumatized again and again by this violence.

Far too often, the victims are children. I stand in honor of a 9- year-old boy in Oakland County, Michigan, who accidentally shot himself in the face with an unsecured firearm. I stand in honor of a 6-year-old girl in Detroit, Michigan, who was accidentally shot and killed by an unsecured handgun in March. Even in that same weekend, another 6-year- old girl was hospitalized after she accidentally shot herself with an unsecured firearm. In Wayne County alone, 39 children have been killed or injured since 2020 after finding unsecured firearms.

It is not just mass shootings. It is also a fact that we must take measures to protect and store these guns. Protecting our loved ones, especially our babies, should not be a partisan issue.

I call on this Congress to act on gun safety legislation, including the Safe Storage Saves Lives Act. It would require firearm sellers to provide every purchaser with a gun lock. I always used to raise it and show people that it cost $10 to secure the gun.

The Safe Storage Saves Lives Act would be commonsense gun safety legislation. It is sitting right here in Congress, waiting for a vote. While we wait for a vote, families are grieving loved ones.

Mr. Speaker, I ask and demand that our Congress have the courage to act to end this madness.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted: NO on Roll Call No. 155.

Mr. Speaker, our government is spying on us. That is right. The Foreign Intelligence Accountability Act, called FISA section 702, is a dangerous mass surveillance tool that is already being used by our Federal Government to conduct thousands of warrantless searches on the private communications of U.S. citizens without any due process, probable cause, or review from a judge.

It is a clear and open violation of our Fourth Amendment and Americans' right to privacy. It makes us all less safe.

This unconstitutional tool has been used to spy on Black Lives Matter protesters, Members of Congress, journalists, and more.

No President--not any of them--should have the power to spy on our private communication or information, especially not the current occupant of the White House.

My colleagues want to give the Trump administration the power to keep violating our rights. It is dangerous, and it must stop.

Mr. Speaker, I will always defend our rights from illegal mass surveillance. I will be voting ``no'' on the FISA reauthorization.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois for his continued effort to protect and fight for working families.

For the last 7 years that I have been here, I have been pushing for us to fund and acknowledge that safe, accessible, and affordable drinking water is a human right. Right now, in our United States, we have programs for electricity and gas shut-offs, but nothing for water. Water is life. It is sometimes literally a barrier to a public health crisis.

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell and I are changing that. In 2021, we established the first-ever low-income housing water assistance program, a financial assistance program to pay off bills and debts and keep people's water connected during the pandemic. It was a total of $1.1 billion.

The program saved countless lives, but the money has run out. Millions of Americans right now are struggling to keep up with the affordability crisis and having their water shut off.

It is not just an issue in Detroit, but also in communities like the city of Inkster, Redford Township, and other areas in the 12th Congressional District. This is a nationwide issue. Every Congressional district right now has a water crisis.

That is why Congresswoman Dingell and I are introducing the Water Access and Affordability Act to establish a permanent low-income drinking water assistance program within the Environmental Protection Agency.

Our bill would dedicate $20 billion every year to keep people's water flowing. This program would include direct financial assistance and bill payments, debt relief, reconnection assistance, and water efficiency upgrades.

It will set up community advisory committees to help advise the EPA on how to implement these programs to make the biggest difference possible.

This bill would ban water shutoffs as a punishment for not being able to afford their water bills. This is the richest country in the world. We say it all the time, but it is important. Many families see the money flowing but not to essentials.

The President just requested a $1.5 trillion military budget, but they want to tell us they don't have money to make sure that every family in our country has access to clean drinking water. This bill is an important first step in our movement to recognize, again, that water is life. It is a human right.

This has become an issue for me and something very important because there was an African-American couple in my community in their seventies. Their story was published in one of our local outlets. One of the homeowners had put snow in a bucket to melt so he had water to be able to flush the toilet.

Their story talked about the fact that they worked all their lives. They paid for their home. They have to pay their taxes every year on their home. They have a little bit of bills here and there, but the water costs went so high that they just couldn't afford it. They literally, in their seventies, in their retirement, couldn't afford water.

I say this lovingly to my colleagues: It is about time we find money for our families here at home. If our country has money for endless wars, we have money to make sure that people aren't melting snow to flush their toilets or living in fear of getting their children taken away because water has been shut off.

We will literally take children away from homes that don't have access to water and spend money on putting them in foster care, but not make sure that, again, we have programs like this one to make sure that they are protected and have access to something that is lifesaving.

Mr. Speaker, water is a human right, and I hope my colleagues will try to support, again, the funding of this program. Trust me, all across the country, you will find a family that is struggling to pay their water bill.

Mr. Speaker, this week marks 3 years of the war in Sudan, and our country has done little to nothing to actually stop it.

Tens of thousands of Sudanese have been killed, and 14 million are displaced in what has become the world's largest displacement crisis.

Mr. Speaker, the Rapid Support Forces, RSF, have engaged in a claim of ethnic cleansing and genocide in Darfur and armed with American weapons provided to them by the United Arab Emirates, and it is shameful. It is shameful that many of my colleagues continue to look away.

We need to move the Stand Up For Sudan Act, the Stand Up For Sudan Act which would cease all U.S. weapons sales to the UAE.

We must put pressure on all nations fueling this war and extend the international arms embargo on Darfur to all of Sudan.

While the Sudanese people face famine, the Trump administration has slashed humanitarian aid that saves lives, and this must be reversed immediately.

We need an immediate cease-fire; but beyond that, we need to support the Sudanese people and their call for freedom, peace, and justice.

Mr. Speaker, I am deeply proud to serve not only as an unapologetic Arab-American woman in Congress but to represent one of the largest Arab-American communities in our country.

That is why I am introducing a resolution recognizing April as Arab American Heritage Month. This month, we must recognize the rich history, culture, and achievements of Arab Americans all across our country.

I know it has been an incredibly difficult time for many of our families, especially those with loved ones in Lebanon and Palestine. Even in the midst of pain and uncertainty, let us all continue to show up for each other, speak out against injustices, and care for each other with compassion and solidarity.

Mr. Speaker, I am sure you will agree that this is the time and month to acknowledge Arab-American contributions, inventions, and support building businesses and showing up for communities and neighbors all across the country.

To all the neighbors in southeastern Michigan and beyond, happy Arab American Heritage Month.

No matter how Republicans try to spin it, the SAVE Act is voter suppression. This isn't about election security, Mr. Speaker. It is about election takeover.

President Trump and Republicans know that their policies are deeply unpopular with the American people.

So what are they doing? They are trying to rig the elections. They want to force Americans to produce a passport or birth certificate just to register to vote.

They know full well that only about half of Americans have a passport. They know it costs money. They know it takes time. That is the point.

They want to make it harder for many of our neighbors to be able to vote. Nearly 70 million married women do not have a birth certificate matching their legal name.

This bill is a direct attack on our right to vote, and Republicans don't want people like us voting. It would also increase purges of registered voters who literally are getting kicked off of these lists who are legally allowed to vote, and we must stop it.