Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, alerting the public to government wrongdoing is not a crime. Yet, sadly, administrations of both parties are increasingly using the Espionage Act to target and prosecute whistleblowers and journalists for sharing critical information, important information, with the public. Such prosecutions undermine our government's transparency and are a clear violation of the First Amendment and fundamental right to due process.

That is why I am introducing the Daniel Ellsberg Press Freedom and Whistleblower Protection Act, which would prevent abuses against whistleblowers, journalists, and the American public for exposing government corruption.

Ever since it became law in 1917, the Espionage Act has been used to criminalize political dissent, and that is dangerous. It has been used to target whistleblowers who alerted the American people about government lies about the Vietnam war, mass surveillance, torture, drone assassinations, and the U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In recent years, the use of this repressive tool has prosecuted whistleblowers and journalists acting in the public interest and has expanded dramatically, producing a major chilling effect on the right to dissent in our country. In our country, war has always been used as an excuse by the powerful to take away the rights of our people.

This legislation is named in honor of the late Daniel Ellsberg, the celebrated whistleblower who bravely exposed government lies about the Vietnam war with the publication of the Pentagon Papers.

Today, our government is committing horrific war crimes against humanity, from Iran to Palestine to Cuba, while expanding mass surveillance and spying on Americans more than ever.

If we allow Presidential administrations to continue to abuse this power and erode our rights, we will lose our freedom of speech and so much more.

It is time to put an end to these abuses and stand up for our First Amendment rights and freedoms.

Strife in Lebanon

Mr. Speaker, as we approach the celebration of Eid al- Fitr, the end of the holy month of Ramadan, thousands of our families in the 12th Congressional District who have strong ties to Lebanon are struggling right now.

This year's Eid feels different for us. I know many have lost loved ones. Many mosques are full of memorials, and many, many, again, are watching their grandparents' homes be bombed and seeing relatives, uprooted from their neighbors, becoming homeless. This campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Israeli Government has already killed nearly 1,000 people, including over 100 children that we know of.

Over 1 million people in Lebanon, one-fifth of Lebanon's entire population, has been forcibly displaced and told by the Israeli military that they will not be allowed to return to their homes and their villages. This has all been supported and enabled by our tax dollars.

Mr. Speaker, entire families have been wiped out, and towns and city neighborhoods have been completely erased. Entire generations-- grandparents, parents, and children are gone. Medical centers and universities are being targeted. Look it up. They are

just bombing medics, children, residential neighborhoods, set aflame with U.S.-produced white phosphorus, which is a war crime, Mr. Speaker, poisoning the land and poisoning the people.

We are witnessing the same genocidal playbook used against Palestinians in Gaza, and now they are doing it in Lebanon.

Mr. Speaker, I will be introducing a House Resolution standing with the people of Lebanon against these war crimes and calling for an end to this illegal invasion. It is time for us to be able to stop this illegal invasion, enact a total arms embargo, and put an immediate end to this destructive regional war.

Public Sector Development of Essential Medications at Cost

Mr. Speaker, in Detroit, we say that we don't have healthcare in our country. We have sick care in our country.

Under the Trump administration, we know that this crisis is getting worse. Trump has already cut $1 trillion from programs like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, so I introduced a bill to be able to hone in on the pharmaceutical industry. It is called Medicines for the People Act, a plan to develop essential medicines and medications in the public sector and distribute them to all Americans at not-for- profit rates.

The National Institute for Biomedical Research and Development would drive the development of these drugs and devices to lower costs and expand access to medicines, boost innovation, and address public health concerns. It creates the real competition that we need in our healthcare system: lower the prices and save lives.

We all know that there are real consequences to these higher costs and fewer breakthroughs in the industry that prioritizes profits over public health, so I urge my colleagues to please support Medicines for the People Act. It is important because healthcare is a human right.

Mr. Speaker, it is time to build a system that ensures that lifesaving prescription drugs are affordable and accessible to everyone. When my residents tell me that we have sick care instead of healthcare, that should be a signal that we need to do more and need to be able to combat profit and corporate greed within our healthcare system.

This week marks the celebration of Eid al-Fitr, which comes at the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Ramadan is a time that strengthens our faith, deepens compassion, and brings people together in care for one another, but I also know that this Ramadan has been incredibly difficult for many of our families, especially those with loved ones in Lebanon and in Palestine.

I am sending love to all of the families who have lost loved ones and those who are celebrating Eid on top of the rubble of their masjids and their homes.

Even in the midst of pain and uncertainty, our Muslim neighbors have continued to show resilience. They continue to come together in community and supporting one another. As we gather to celebrate, let us keep showing up for each other and speaking out against injustices and caring for our communities with compassion and solidarity.

To all of the millions of Muslim Americans in our country right now, I want you to know that not everybody in this Chamber sees you as less human. A majority of us in this Chamber know that you are worthy of life, liberty, and justice.

May this Eid bring us closer to a future grounded in peace, justice, and dignity for all.

``Blessed Eid''; ``Eid mubarak'' to every Muslim here in the United States and around the world.

Mr. Speaker, DTE Energy is out of control.

They are requesting another outrageous rate hike, just days after State regulators approved another $242 million increase, an increase of 4.6 percent per customer. These are our residents getting their utility costs increased.

Our families can't afford higher rates with more power outages that wipe out groceries, spoil our medicines in our refrigerator, and leave our neighbors without critical medical services, all because DTE in Michigan would rather spend money on campaign contributions than invest in reliability.

DTE doesn't even care about reliability because they care about record profits and pay for shareholders and executives.

Mr. Speaker, the company made $1.5 billion in profits last year. This is unchecked corporate greed. DTE already charges some of the highest rates in the Nation but provides unreliable service and performs hundreds of thousands of utility shutoffs per year.

Mr. Speaker, guess who subsidizes those shutoffs. It is the LIHEAP program, the taxpayers.

Enough is enough. DTE Energy needs to be checked and held accountable.

Madam Speaker, in the 12th Congressional District, every single day is Black History Month.

I am so incredibly proud to have been born in the most beautiful, Blackest city in the country. I know Detroit has built movements from every corner, and our community is a reminder of the civil rights movement, the labor rights movement.

I still remember, Madam Speaker, in ninth grade getting this bright orange book. It was the first time we ever got brand-new books. It was a beautiful book around history and teaching American history through Black history.

To this day, I know that I am rooted in community and understanding movements because, again, I was able to be educated in a way that was full of justice seekers, full of movement makers.

I know that it has always been a city of changemakers. We bore witness to Dr. King's first Walk to Freedom and the transformative work of trailblazers like Mother Rosa Parks and Malcolm X.

From the iconic Motown sounds to generations of powerful activism, our Black neighbors have changed the course of our history. Yet right now, we are witnessing efforts to erase that history.

The Trump administration has targeted diversity, equity, inclusion, and rolled back hard-won progress.

Systemic racism has been codified into laws, Madam Speaker, and into our budgets. Black unemployment has skyrocketed. Black homeownership has significantly decreased.

We know the Department of Justice has rolled back civil rights protections and disparate impact antidiscrimination regulations, weakening the ability to change policies that harm our Black communities in housing and unemployment.

Trump has issued executive orders targeting museums and institutions like the National Museum of African American History and Culture trying to hide the truth about Black history.

We will never stop fighting to protect and center the voices of our Black neighbors. No matter how much the Trump administration attempts to whitewash it and how hard they try, they cannot erase Black history.

My Black neighbors ask me: Is it true that the President has not said anything about Black history?

Not once did he acknowledge Black History Month.

Again, we know our Black neighbors have shaped every chapter of our Nation's history. That will never change. This Black History Month, we renew our commitment to fighting for a more just, equitable future. Black history is American history.

Thanking Larissa Richardson

Madam Speaker, every time I tried to sit down and write this, I found myself tearing up. That is how much my chief of staff, Larissa Richardson, meant to me and continues to mean to me and so many of our team members.

Larissa has served our families for over a decade. From my time as a State Representative to our years in Congress, Larissa has been a tremendous and deeply committed partner in this work. She built an exceptional district team to make sure our neighborhood service centers were responsive and rooted in community.

She helped deliver close to $70 million back home through the appropriations process, resources that made a real difference in people's lives.

She made sure every single meeting, policy decision, and late night was centered on the needs of the beautiful families that we represent.

She always had my back. She believed in the vision I had for our work, even when the culture here in Washington, D.C. didn't make it easy. We faced very difficult moments together, and we always said we are going to outwork the hate.

We stay grounded in our values, and Larissa Richardson was such a huge part of making that possible. She has now transitioned to continuing the fight for our families on our new mayor, Mayor Sheffield's team, and I couldn't be any prouder of her.

Madam Speaker, Larissa will always be part of Team Tlaib. That doesn't change. We already miss her presence, leadership, and calm strength. This isn't goodbye. This is just a new chapter.

Madam Speaker, I wish everyone will take a moment and join me in thanking her for her years of service for our community.

I love you, Larissa.

Mr. Speaker, resistance comes in different forms. Sometimes just our mere existence is resisting. I want to take a moment to recognize my guest for the State of the Union Address. Her name is Dr. Fatou-Seydi Sarr, the founder and CEO of the African Bureau for Immigrant and Social Affairs in Detroit.

I am bringing her into this Chamber this evening to uplift the work that she does in resisting the dehumanization of our beautiful immigrant neighbors.

Originally from Senegal, she provides critical services to our Black immigrant families in the city of Detroit. She fights to secure basic needs like food, shelter, and stability for our immigrant families who are often viewed as disposable by our own government.

As a Black immigrant Muslim woman, she confronts injustices and refuses to be silent. She has also mentored so many incredible young Black girls to see themselves as leaders and changemakers.

Inspired by Detroit's Black women organizers, Seydi reminds us that in our community, we keep each other safe. In, Wolof, she says: We must hold on to one another if we want to build a humanity we believe in. Because it is not about me. It is about us, locked arm in arm.

Mr. Speaker, we all know that right now the housing crisis is real for so many of our families across the country, and I know many of us in this Chamber, especially those on the left, have always said housing is a human right.

To address this crisis, we know that we need action at every level of government, but many local communities need additional assistance and capacity. That is why I am so incredibly grateful that the House passed the Housing Our Communities Act, part of the Housing for the 21st Century Act legislative package.

The Housing Our Communities Act directs the HUD Secretary to establish a competitive grant program to support a wide range of affordable housing planning and implementation activities.

For example, grants can support officials in crafting their housing plans, updating their zoning codes, or increasing capacity to conduct housing inspections so that new developments are completed faster and much more efficiently.

This bill provides civil servants and policymakers with the support they need to make affordable housing a reality for so many of our communities.

I urge my colleagues in the Senate to pass this legislation immediately and begin to address the housing crisis that is devastating our country.

Mr. Speaker, I want to honor the life and legacy of my dear friend Ismael Ahmed, whom I lovingly called Ishman.

He was one of my first mentors, and I grew so much working with him at ACCESS, the largest Arab-American human services agency in the Nation.

If you knew Ishman, he definitely introduced you to beautiful music and

artists that you had never heard of. He loved working on Concert of Colors, and I knew for a fact that in the last few weeks of his life, that is exactly what he was doing, working on this beautiful international festival in Detroit.

His laugh was a belly laugh that shook his whole body, and you couldn't help but laugh along with him.

Even with all of his community work for justice and the art community, one thing I will always remember is the incredible patience and love he showed my grandmother, Sity Shama. He never turned his back on her, even while she was trying to raise her grandkids on her own and was going through a lot of mental health challenges. I will always love him for that.

I am going to miss him. I know that his decades of service to our community will be his legacy, and he can rest now.

Rest in power, my dear friend. You really did good for our community, and we will never ever forget it.

Mr. Speaker, that is what the American people are doing right now in the streets of America. That is what they are using to protect themselves, whistles and their cameras. That is what they are doing against the fascist army.

Speaker Johnson says: ICE is doing what ICE is designed to do.

That is what he said.

How many more of our neighbors have to be executed? How many more of our neighbors have to be killed?

I refuse to send another dollar to the Department of Homeland Security. My residents don't want their tax dollars going to execute people in the streets, abduct 5-year-olds, tear gas children, and separate our families.

This is what the Trump administration is doing right now with DHS funding. It is a fascist army, and it is shameful.

I grew up in southwest Detroit, Mr. Speaker, with 20 different beautiful ethnicities. We were the northern border. What my community and our community kept telling us back then during its creation, literally, is they told us they are violating people's civil rights. We do not feel safe with them in our community. People were jogging around our parks and getting stopped to be asked what their legal status was. They were militarizing southwest Detroit. They told us back then: Stop funding ICE.

Kristi Noem has violated the United States Constitution, eroded due process, and again violated Federal processes and laws by preventing Members of Congress already from conducting oversight in their facilities. Shame on them.

This is not an agency, Mr. Speaker, that can be reformed. You can impeach the Secretary, and she needs to be impeached, but this is an agency that was created to do what it is doing now. It is built on violence and racism.

ICE must be abolished. Kristi Noem must be impeached. These murders should be prosecuted.

I am not looking for people to get fired. I am looking for them to be truly held accountable for killing our loved ones and for ripping our children from our arms. Not one more penny should go to this agency that terrorizes our communities.

Mr. Speaker, we all know the public deserves full transparency when it comes to holding police accountable for misconduct. Instead, States and cities all across our country have started adopting new laws to charge the public hundreds of dollars in fees to view or access police body camera footage.

These videos are public records and are essential for accountability and justice for victims of police violence. Putting this footage that should be publicly available behind a paywall makes achieving accountability much more difficult for our residents, especially those who won't be able to afford it, and they tend to be the ones more frequently abused by police.

That is why I am introducing the Stop Body Camera Paywalls Act to prevent any State or unit of local government that creates a paywall for access to these public records from receiving Federal law enforcement grants.

Again, we must make sure that we have transparency, especially when it comes to Federal law enforcement grants. This bill is a necessary step in a wider effort to end police impunity for abuses and ensure the utmost transparency, accountability, and justice for our communities.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my sister in service, Congresswoman Hayes, who has been leading this fight to protect our children, especially making sure that we have access to public education and quality education for all of our children.

Alongside millions of children, including children with disabilities and their families, we are demanding that Congress fulfill its promise.

Nearly 50 years ago, Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA, with a commitment that every child, including students with disabilities, meet their full potential in every classroom and to ensure also that every family has the services they need for their children to succeed.

We didn't say educate children with disabilities if it is convenient. We didn't say protect their rights unless the budgets are too tight or we don't have enough money. We made a promise. We made a promise to fund 40 percent of the cost of IDEA. That promise was never kept. The Federal share is now less than 12 percent.

According to the Autism Alliance of Michigan, Michigan ranks among the lowest in the Nation for special education outcomes, due to massive underfunding by our Federal Government. Students with disabilities in Michigan are twice as likely to drop out of school as their peers. Only 60 percent graduate high school in 4 years, compared to 85 percent among their other peers.

Right now, we are seeing special education under direct and deliberate attack. We have seen repeated efforts to slash education funding, weaken civil rights enforcement and chip away at the protections IDEA guarantees to our students with disabilities.

Every dollar we fail to invest in IDEA is a cost shifted onto our schools, our local communities, our families, and our children, who are already feeling financial strain.

Our families are counting on us. Congress cannot continue to fall short on our students and families regarding funding when so much is at stake. We must fulfill our promise and fund IDEA.

Mr. Speaker, I will take a moment to honor the extraordinary life and legacy of Mother Peggy Noble. She was an inspirational leader and a champion for economic justice and for working families.

Mother Peggy has dedicated her life to her College Park neighborhood where she lived. She was a community organizer, supporting her neighbors, advocating for children, and bringing people together. She believed deeply that real change is built through relationships and advocacy and showing up for our communities. Year after year, that is what she did.

Peggy was a fierce advocate for our families from standing up for her neighborhood to fighting for fairness in our broken auto insurance system. Detroit is stronger because of her voice, her leadership, and her unwavering belief in people. We carry her spirit forward in how we organize, how we protect one another, and how we show up for our neighbors.

My thoughts are with her loved ones, Rochelle, Eugene, Kimberly, Jaimi, Asante, and all of Peggy's loved ones, during this difficult time. May she rest in power and in love.

ACA Tax Credits

Mr. Speaker, we always seem to have money for war, to bomb countries, but we never have money for healthcare for our families.

On January 1, Republicans ended the Affordable Care Act tax credits and raised healthcare premiums for millions of Americans, our neighbors throughout the Nation. This comes, of course, after Trump's big budget betrayal ripped healthcare away from 17 million Americans and cut Medicaid by nearly $1 trillion.

Last year, Congress did approve over $1 trillion for the Pentagon budget, which just failed its eighth audit in a row. I want folks to think about that. They are cutting money for healthcare and spending it on bombs and death.

The ACA tax credits are what help keep insurance affordable for many of our neighbors across the country. They are the difference between my neighbors having insurance or going without healthcare. It is heartbreaking to read the emails and messages I get from so many families that are putting off seeing a doctor and filling their prescriptions and now rationing their medication.

No parent, Mr. Speaker, should have to choose whether to take their child to the doctor because healthcare is too expensive. Our healthcare system is already broken, and it is inhumane.

My residents always tell me: Don't call it healthcare. Call it sick care. Because we know right now the for-profit schemes within our healthcare system are making it so unaffordable for our families. Why have we not passed the tax credits for the Affordable Care Act?

Again, we are so grateful for the leadership of Hakeem Jeffries as we push forward a force vote for a 3-year ACA tax credit extension today.

Again, instead of extreme cuts, we should be expanding access to care and guaranteeing healthcare as a fundamental human right in our country. We must pass this tax credit extension today and put pressure on the Senate to take it up immediately.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my Republican colleagues to help fix this mess they have made by restoring the extreme Medicaid cuts and joining us in extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits.

Housing is a Human Right

Mr. Speaker, housing is a human right, but as everyone knows, we are facing a housing crisis right now.

On any given night right now, more than three-quarters of a million people are unhoused nationwide. The last time the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour was increased was in 2009.

Since then, average rental costs have increased 76 percent. That is just completely wild.

We need action at every level of government. I know that many of our local elected officials are desperate to reduce housing costs and need the Federal Government's partnership. We know often here in this Chamber there are officials that will not promote affordable housing or address the unique barriers that our communities are facing.

That is why I introduced the Housing Our Communities Act, and it is meant to address it immediately. This is part of a legislative package that passed out of the Financial Services Committee this past year.

My bill directs the HUD Secretary to establish a competitive grant program to support a wide array of affordable housing planning and implementation activities.

For example, grants, Mr. Speaker, can support officials in crafting their own housing plans, updating zoning codes, and increasing the capacity to conduct housing inspections so that developments are completed faster, reducing project costs.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Housing for the 21st Century Act and provide policymakers and our local governments with the resources they need to make affordable housing a reality.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted: YEA on Roll Call No. 336, H.R. 3187, and YEA on Roll Call No. 335, Congressional Award Program Reauthorization Act.

Mr. Chairman, we know that the dirty water bill reduces significant oversight for the Clean Water Act, and it is really important to know that polluters are pushing to weaken this--not residents, not families, and not communities that are directly impacted.

This is about discharging toxic chemicals into our water bodies. I want Members to understand that last year, Congress rejected--again, Congress rejected last year many of the changes being proposed now in the PERMIT Act because it had damaging impacts to the health of families, the economy, and our environment.

Mr. Chairman, it is not just this bill. This week, Republicans are voting now on five dirty energy bills that attack communities I represent. These bills boost dirty energy power plants even as energy companies are transitioning toward cleaner energy.

Dirty energy plants have historically been located in communities that look like mine, in rural communities and minority communities. In Michigan, we already know that certain communities are facing a disproportionate burden from electricity generation.

Just ask the residents of southwest Detroit and the Downriver region in Michigan. They have felt the harm and seen the harm, and they lived the experience of being next to DTE's oil-fired power plant that made them sick.

Mr. Chairman, it is immoral, and Congress must fix it. Yet, many of the pro-polluting Republicans in this Chamber want to talk about making electricity with ``reliable generation facilities,'' when they really are talking about more expensive dirty energy.

There is nothing ``reliable'' about air pollution giving our children asthma. Children not only have the right to be able to not go hungry, but they have a right to breathe clean air. The only thing folks can rely on right now with these plants is getting sicker.

I proposed two amendments this week, Mr. Chair, to protect our communities, but they were rejected. They would have made sure that we have full information and transparency on the disparate impacts and cumulative impacts on minority, rural, disadvantaged, and Tribal communities and would have added safeguards, safeguards that would have been able to define what real reliable generation facilities are.

Again, they were not interested. Why? It is because we know that clean water and clean air is never a priority. It is always going to be about profits for corporate, polluting donors. If you want reliable generation facilities, make them clean so they are not actively poisoning our neighbors, destroying our communities, and making them less attractive places to live, work, and invest.

I promise, if you go to your community and ask them about this dirty water permit bill that you guys are pushing for, as well as what was passed with the energy bills, overwhelmingly, across party lines, they will tell you to protect our land, our soil, our water, our environment, and our health.

Mr. Speaker, our Federal workforce deserves a voice. We know the executive order was the largest act of union busting in our Nation's history. It stripped away collective bargaining rights of over a million Federal employees in over 40 Federal agencies.

The agencies covered by the executive order employ nearly 82 percent of the unionized Federal workforce. They are workers in every single congressional district.

These are workers that protect our food, our water, our air, our skies, and care for our veterans, our children, and our seniors. They are our neighbors.

Many people in this Chamber know that a union may have helped them achieve the dream that they have of serving, as well as being able to take care of their families. Many of us are recipients indirectly or directly because of unions.

Collective bargaining isn't a privilege, Mr. Speaker, that can just be signed away. It is a fundamental right. When working people have a voice on their job, services improve, accountability grows, and we all benefit. The bill doesn't just restore fairness, Mr. Speaker. It restores dignity and due process.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support Protect America's Workforce Act.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Dearborn's Divine Child High School for winning the Division 4 State championship with a thrilling 23-22 win.

After a dominant season, they rose to the moment at Ford Field to earn their first State championship in 40 years. It was an incredible game and an accomplishment that these players, coaches, and families will remember forever.

The Falcon players showed grit, heart, and determination from the start to finish. Their offense came alive when it mattered most, and their defense stood strong under pressure.

We saw remarkable leadership on the field and witnessed the team's incredible perseverance through challenges.

I thank the coaches, the families, and all those who helped with the mentorship and planning and the belief in our athletes.

I congratulate the team on a game and a season that they will remember, again, for the rest of their lives. They all brought home a championship, and they did it with teamwork and pride. They made us all incredibly, incredibly happy that day.

They made their school and community and so many smile, so I congratulate the Falcons.